Rouses Markets produce director Blake Lee

We’re delighted to welcome as our guest in this episode Blake Lee, produce director of Rouses Markets. Blake’s career has also included stints at Bristol Farms, as the director of produce procurement, marketing, merchandising and supply chain; at Sprouts Farmers Market as a produce buyer; and at He…

Kevin Climie, senior director of produce, floral and bulk foods at Fortinos, on store checks, new items, holidays and more

We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode of the podcast Kevin Climie, senior director of produce, floral and bulk foods at Fortinos. Kevin joins the show to talk about how he chooses locations for store checks — both from a competitive standpoint and on the inspirational side; what's on h…

Tony Mirack, director of produce, floral and salad bar at McCaffrey’s Food Markets

We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Tony Mirack, director of produce, floral and salad bar at McCaffrey's Food Markets. In this conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, Tony discusses his excitement about produce now having the "Wow!" factor thanks to…

Marc Goldman, produce director at Morton Williams

We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week Marc Goldman, produce director at Morton Williams Supermarkets, a 17-store chain that has served New York City since 1952 and was just acquired by Wakefern. Marc has been with Morton Williams the better part of 30 years, and in this conversation he …

VP of fresh foods Rick Stein on FMI's State of Fresh Foods report

We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods for the Food Industry Association, also known as FMI. Before Rick joined FMI in 2014, he spent more than 20 years at Safeway in various leadership roles across marketing, merchandising and operations, and…

Bob Veilleux, vice president of produce and floral operations at Vallarta Supermarkets

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Bob Veilleux, vice president of produce and floral operations at Vallarta Supermarkets. Bob’s previous stops have included Gelson’s, Gerrity’s, El Rio Grande Latin Markets, LaMontanita Co-op, and Sprouts. In this conversation, Bob and …

Ed Keefe, executive director of produce, floral and bakery merchandising and operations for Eickhoff ShopRite Supermarkets

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Ed Keefe, executive director of produce, floral and bakery merchandising and operations for Eickhoff ShopRite Supermarkets. Ed visited with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about the origins of his "Drop the Leash" philosophy; how he stays…

Deep dive on category reviews with Associated Food Stores director of produce and floral Leigh Vaughn

We're delighted to have as our guest for this week's episode Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores. In this conversation, Leigh takes us behind the scenes of category reviews, from the data his team examines in preparation for supplier meetings; to his recommended …

Sprouts Farmers Market produce directors Daniel Spivey and Reyna Graves

We're delighted to have as our guests this episode Daniel Spivey, national director of fruit for Sprouts Farmers Market, and Reyna Graves, national director of veg and floral. Daniel and Reyna discuss topics including seasonal fruit destinations that drove record sales this summer; switching to mor…

Longtime produce retail exec Scott Schuette discusses how to distribute decision-making between corporate and store level

We're delighted to welcome back to The Produce Retail Podcast longtime executive Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. He’s …