We're delighted to welcome back for the second installment of our floral series Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp, along with Michael Schrader, floral director of Schnuck Markets. Michael is a lifelong floral professional and highly respected in the industry. He was recognized as Floral Marketer of the Year in 2016, and he has also served as chair of then-PMA’s Floral Council. Jennie is also a veteran of the retail side of the business: her previous roles have included floral buyer for Roundy’s, category manager for floral at Mariano’s, and floral merchandising manager at SpartanNash. She is a member of the IFPA’s Floral Council and an advisory board member for Floriexpo. Michael and Jennie join the show to tackle a broad topic: building a floral program. They talk with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about what that entails at different levels, from a small independent just starting out in floral or broadening a modest program, to a standard supermarket looking to advance its offering, to a grocer that wants to make floral a signature department and be a market leader in that area. Hope you enjoy the conversation!

For more discussions featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles. 

More Playlists

• Merchandising & Marketing 

• Leadership & Training

• Produce Manager Perspective

Podcast Background

This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.

Get Involved

The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.