We’re delighted to welcome to the podcast two of the foremost ripening experts in the country: Dennis Kihlstadius, CEO of Produce Technical Services, and Gary Campisi, president of Campisi Produce Consulting. They discuss both the fundamentals and finer points of banana ripening, including why ripening with external color as the guide only works 80% of the time; how to get a more precise understanding of ripening progress; the three rules of ripening Gary developed during his 25 years at Walmart; how country of origin factors into ripening; what qualifies as a good ripening room; how to sample effectively; where in the supply chain ripening happens depending on the size of the retailer; the importance of bananas as a quality messenger for the overall department; and more. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the conversation! Check out our previous episodes (170 and counting) for conversations across all aspects of produce retail.

 

We&rsquo;re delighted to welcome to the podcast two of the foremost ripening experts in the country: Dennis Kihlstadius, CEO of Produce Technical Services, and Gary Campisi, president of Campisi Produce Consulting. They discuss both the fundamentals and finer points of banana ripening, including why ripening with external color as the guide only works 80% of the time; how to get a more precise understanding of ripening progress; the three rules of ripening Gary developed during his 25 years at Walmart; how country of origin factors into ripening; what qualifies as a good ripening room; how to sample effectively; where in the supply chain ripening happens depending on the size of the retailer; the importance of bananas as a quality messenger for the overall department; and more. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the conversation! Check out our previous episodes (170 and counting) for conversations across all aspects of produce retail.
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The Produce Retail Podcast is the place for thought leaders in the industry to talk shop. Join us for conversations on strategy, business partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. We'll have regular guests as well as more occasional visitors, and the goal is always to deliver conversations that inform, inspire and ultimately illuminate opportunities for growth. This podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, produce industry enthusiast and founder and CEO of Ashley Nickle Growth Strategies.  

The Produce Retail Podcast is the place for thought leaders in the industry to talk shop. Join us for conversations on strategy, business partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. We'll have regular guests as well as more occasional visitors, and the goal is always to deliver conversations that inform, inspire and ultimately illuminate opportunities for growth. This podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, produce industry enthusiast and founder and CEO of Ashley Nickle Growth Strategies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Produce Retail Podcast

The way to better bananas — Deep dive on banana ripening with Dennis Kihlstadius and Gary Campisi

We're delighted to have returning to the show a listener favorite, Anne-Marie Roerink! She’s the principal of 210 Analytics and renowned for her fabulous produce presentations, but in the last couple months she’s actually been at events for all different parts of the store, from meat to seafood to frozen to candy. With that in mind, Anne-Marie is the perfect person to talk with about what’s happening with consumers broadly and what it all means for produce. In this episode, we discuss how continued price sensitivity among consumers is translating in produce; the increasing concentration of produce sales, with a growing percentage coming from the highest-income households; price and value perception of produce compared to “snacks” broadly; the implications of the increase in fixed-weight produce; leveraging trends like fibermaxxing in the marketing of produce; the “changing of the guard” as millennials take over for boomers as the majority shoppers; consumer concern with waste as a financial issue rather than a sustainability issue; social media driving sales; what a continuing lower percentage of sales on promotions demonstrates about retailers' pricing and promotion strategies; the changing dynamics of which grocery channel is the first shop and which is the fill-in; how life stages factor into purchase patterns; how changing demographic realities will influence buying in the coming decade; best-by dates and their effect on consumption; texture as a total-store trend and how produce factors in; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did! 

We're delighted to have returning to the show a listener favorite, Anne-Marie Roerink! She&rsquo;s the principal of 210 Analytics and renowned for her fabulous produce presentations, but in the last couple months she&rsquo;s actually been at events for all different parts of the store, from meat to seafood to frozen to candy. With that in mind, Anne-Marie is the perfect person to talk with about what&rsquo;s happening with consumers broadly and what it all means for produce. In this episode, we discuss how continued price sensitivity among consumers is translating in produce; the increasing concentration of produce sales, with a growing percentage coming from the highest-income households; price and value perception of produce compared to &ldquo;snacks&rdquo; broadly; the implications of the increase in fixed-weight produce; leveraging trends like fibermaxxing in the marketing of produce; the &ldquo;changing of the guard&rdquo; as millennials take over for boomers as the majority shoppers; consumer concern with waste as a financial issue rather than a sustainability issue; social media driving sales; what a continuing lower percentage of sales on promotions demonstrates about retailers' pricing and promotion strategies; the changing dynamics of which grocery channel is the first shop and which is the fill-in; how life stages factor into purchase patterns; how changing demographic realities will influence buying in the coming decade; best-by dates and their effect on consumption; texture as a total-store trend and how produce factors in; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!&nbsp;

Anne-Marie Roerink on changing consumer dynamics and their impact on produce

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 his checklist to observe when he visits stores; how he looks to learn from other retailers across the country; new items the produce department has offered recently; first-quarter holidays; categories of focus for summer; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did! 

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 &mdash; both from a competitive standpoint and on the inspirational side; what's on his checklist to observe when he visits stores; how he looks to learn from other retailers across the country; new items the produce department has offered recently; first-quarter holidays; categories of focus for summer; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!&nbsp;

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 as our guest on this week’s episode Skylar Leonard, produce operations supervisor for Food City. We last had Skylar on the show in 2023, when he was recognized as one of the best produce managers in the country as part of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In his return, we discuss how he made the transition from managing his own store, to doing that while assisting on special projects, to now overseeing produce operations for 12 stores. We discuss how he allocates his time across stores, what he looks for when he visits, how training he received years ago as a new produce manager and mentorship by his supervisor continues to pay dividends for him, the problem-solving aspect of the job that is needed when you’re working in many different environments and with different people, holiday performance, unique SKUs, local TV appearances, and much more. Thanks for listening!

We&rsquo;re delighted to welcome as our guest on this week&rsquo;s episode Skylar Leonard, produce operations supervisor for Food City. We last had Skylar on the show in 2023, when he was recognized as one of the best produce managers in the country as part of the International Fresh Produce Association&rsquo;s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In his return, we discuss how he made the transition from managing his own store, to doing that while assisting on special projects, to now overseeing produce operations for 12 stores. We discuss how he allocates his time across stores, what he looks for when he visits, how training he received years ago as a new produce manager and mentorship by his supervisor continues to pay dividends for him, the problem-solving aspect of the job that is needed when you&rsquo;re working in many different environments and with different people, holiday performance, unique SKUs, local TV appearances, and much more. Thanks for listening!

The way to better bananas — Deep dive on banana ripening with Dennis Kihlstadius and Gary Campisi

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