Fruitful Labors

Healthy eating is becoming more and more associated with the C-store. The industry is seizing an opportunity by addressing a need.

This doesn’t mean chips and donuts are going out of style. But more of us are exercising and reading product labels, which helps explain why fresh fruit has become the top snack in America.

You might not know it, but grocery stores realize their largest margins through the produce they sell. It may seem an odd marriage at first: a six-pack of Steel Reserve across from a Granny Smith; a pack of Pall malls and a banana. But it’s working for c-store operators across the globe and raising the profile of the c-store in the eye of the general public, an effective market differentiator.

We’re not talking only about produce, either. Innovations from C-store suppliers like Dole, Chiquita and Ocean Spray blend the concept of convenience with the intake of fresh fruit, best exemplified by the fresh fruit cup that so conveniently fits into the cup holder of an SUV or van.

Still, nothing has a more positive impact on consumers than an inviting display of fresh produce. You’ll attract the health conscious who have never before left the comfort of the pump island and maybe entice existing customers to add a piece of fruit or two to their daily purchases.

Even getting fresh fruit into C-stores, once an issue, has become less problematic as the industry understands the incredible upside of selling and marketing perishables and works to resolve traditional distribution problems. Powerful C-store back office solutions that can track spoilage and waste to the penny offer an even greater incentive to stock fresh fruit, with inventory modules that provide concrete evidence that fresh fruit program is working.

The typical customer may never buy spinach, turnips, and rosemary alongside Marlboros and Mickey’s Big Mouth, but progressive c-store owners understand there’s a place for fruit in their inventory mix. You’ll sweeten your margins while showing your community you’re committed to a healthy, happy customer base.