Building Merchandising Excellence
Eye Appeal -> Buy Appeal
Merchandising, as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary, is “the activity of promoting the sale of goods, especially by their presentation in retail outlets.”
While this definition captures the basic concept, it reflects only a portion of the role merchandising plays within retail produce operations and the wholesale supply chain.
Produce merchandising is essential to a successful operation. It begins with collaboration on the buying side and continues through engagement with retailers and ultimately the end consumer. Merchandisers perform multi-functional and dynamic roles and often serve as one of the most visible representatives of Four Seasons Produce within its retailer customers.
While the exact percentage varies, effective merchandising can influence 50% or more of shopper produce purchases, positively or negatively. Product placement, engaging displays, and seasonal emphasis within a produce department creates numerous opportunities to drive sales, making merchandising strategy a powerful tool for retailers.
Starting Retail Services
For the first 10-15 years of Four Seasons Produce’s existence, supplying restaurants, sandwich shops, and farm markets was the focus of the business. The development of a Retail Services function was originally envisioned by founder, David Hollinger and his team, as a way to strengthen the connection between Four Seasons Produce and its independent retailer partners, and to grow with higher-volume non-foodservice accounts.
As the department developed, leadership recognized the need to deepen the connection to retailers and be more valuable to them. David convinced Baltimore-Washington area produce retail executive, Wendell Hahn, to join Four Seasons in the early 1990s to build up retail business. Wendell recruited more industry veterans with strong retail backgrounds to help shape the team and establish the standards and work ethic that would define the group moving forward. Their expert support to Four Seasons’ customers back then helped lay the foundation for what the merchandising team would become, setting expectations for professionalism, collaboration, and results-driven service that could transform produce departments.
Four Seasons’ Merchandisers visited stores to offer product suggestions, review service levels, and communicate feedback that could improve overall support. These interactions helped bridge the gap between supply and retail execution while identifying opportunities for growth and improvement.
Integrating More with Partners
During the late 2000s, the retail landscape began shifting as consumer demand for healthier food options and organic products increased. Consumers became increasingly interested in how food was grown and handled, and many actively sought products with fewer chemicals and more transparent sourcing. Natural Food Stores and Food Co-ops were already focused on natural groceries and organic produce. The Four Seasons Retail Services Team saw an opportunity to help these natural/specialty channel retailers supercharge their growth and success by elevating their merchandising and promotions game.
As this trend accelerated, natural food stores, organic markets, and food cooperatives expanded throughout the region and so did Four Seasons’ supply to the channel. With that growth came an increased need for in-store merchandising support, training, and retail expertise. The merchandising team expanded during this period under former Genuardi’s produce exec, Ray Taglialatela, adding experienced professionals who helped retailers adapt to changing consumer preferences and continue growing their businesses.
Over time, partnerships with various retail groups expanded the scope of the team’s work. Merchandisers began focusing more heavily on display execution, department resets, staff training, and in-store merchandising strategies. These efforts produced measurable results, including stronger sales performance, improved department organization, and increased profitability for retail partners.
One innovative approach during the late 1990s and early 2000s involved partnering in an integrated way to actually lead produce departments directly for select retail groups. This hands-on model allowed the company to oversee buying, selling, distribution, and merchandising within those stores. The success of these operations provided valuable case studies and practical examples that could later be shared with other retail partners seeking to improve their produce departments.
Helping Others Succeed In Fresh
Today, the team is served by retail veteran, Bruce Meidinger, and includes twelve professional merchandisers covering seventeen states on the East Coast, plus the island of Bermuda. For more than three decades, the department has provided guidance, training, and retail expertise to help customers succeed in fresh produce.
Brian Dey, one of the most talented and influential visual produce merchandisers in the country, brings his passion and positive impact to his role at Four Seasons as Retail & Merchandising Innovation Manager. One of his many successful initiatives has been putting together Display Contest and Promotions that engage retail staff, help grower-shippers introduce new items or sell more peak season volumes, and move shoppers to impulse purchase.
Four Seasons Produce provides a wide range of merchandising services designed to help retail partners strengthen the performance of their produce departments. The company’s experienced merchandising specialists support stores through:
consultative visits
department setups and resets,
equipment recommendations,
staff trainings,
and display builds.
They also help retailers address key operational areas such as:
shrink,
margins,
sales performance,
department flow,
shopping experience,
and assortment.
For independent grocers, natural food stores, and food co-ops that may not have large corporate teams or self-distribution infrastructure, a full-service wholesale partner can play a strategic role. Four Seasons Produce supports these retailers not only through product supply and distribution, but also through merchandising expertise that helps them plan, promote, and execute successful produce programs that better serve their shoppers.
In addition to in-store support, Four Seasons Produce provides retailers with a range of planning tools and promotional resources. Services include ad writing, suggested retail price (SRP) guidance, display contests, and promotional support, along with annual planning calendars, quarterly seasonal merchandising guides, and weekly market news updates. Together, these resources help produce directors, buyers, and department managers anticipate trends and execute effective merchandising strategies year-round.
The origins of the merchandising department began with a simple vision: to add value and strengthen the company’s presence within retail stores. The lessons learned during those early years provided insight into how retail operates and what retailers need to succeed. Those experiences helped shape the department’s direction and ultimately led to the strong merchandising partnerships that carry forward to this day.
