So, I do ClickList at my store, and my goodness do I ever dread heading over to my Marketplace's produce department. I'm not trying to be mean here; I like a majority of the employees that work in produce and I think (most) of them genuinely try to do a good job and care, and I realize too that you can't catch everything, but for a $1.5 million dollar (on average) Marketplace, the produce is an absolute disgrace. I struggle to pick even a handful of apples because a majority have soft spots and/or unsightly blemishes/marks. Onions are a nightmare; especially the red ones that tend to have multiple flies buzzing over them due to an unknown number of them being in a state of decay. It's not unusual to find mold growing in some of the packages of strawberries/raspberries/etc... The avocados usually are either so hard you could give someone a concussion or (and this is more common) so ripe that your thumb goes right through them if you apply too much pressure. That's just some of the issues I encounter daily. Customers complain over the phone/on OSAT about the produce picked by ClickList, yet what we have to choose from typically ranges from average to so bad that OOS the item is the only option. Even the organic produce, which I try to sub in place of the non-organic, sometimes proves to be a lost cause.
I don't know why anyone buys produce from my store. I certainly wouldn't. Like I said, I don't blame the produce crew because they have a lot on their plate as it is and management isn't exactly helpful or supportive in addressing these freshness issues. I've worked at other Kroger stores in the past before this one, and the produce at those stores has never been all that great either. So... is it just stores in my area or do other Kroger stores elsewhere seem to have just about the least fresh produce in town? I swear, even places like Walmart and Aldi seem to beat Kroger when it comes to fresh produce.
My stores produce freshness score has actually been going up lately but that's probably because we do freshness check huddles now, but rarely do i find any bad ones. I can imagine in a bigger store though with a wider selection of items that a lot of bad ones do slip by.
It probably has more to do with warehouse and handling of suppliers than it does your local produce crew. I worked produce for some time, and a lot of stuff came in badly damaged, constantly. I'd venture it has a lot more to do with the suppliers, since some items would be immaculate while others were garbage, again on a constant basis.
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It probably has more to do with warehouse and handling of suppliers than it does your local produce crew. I worked produce for some time, and a lot of stuff came in badly damaged, constantly. I'd venture it has a lot more to do with the suppliers, since some items would be immaculate while others were garbage, again on a constant basis.
WE GET TERRIBLE PRODUCE IN BUT THE CREW IS SUPPOSED TO CULL IT.
It probably has more to do with warehouse and handling of suppliers than it does your local produce crew. I worked produce for some time, and a lot of stuff came in badly damaged, constantly. I'd venture it has a lot more to do with the suppliers, since some items would be immaculate while others were garbage, again on a constant basis.
That makes no sense because you're never supposed to put anything on the shelves that you wouldn't buy yourself and certainly not put bad produce for sell, even if it came in bad. You're supposed to write up bad produce.
If your produce department is terrible OP, your produce department head is a terrible/lazy worker. It only takes one person to perform a quality check for produce every morning and that is usually the department head or the assistant department head. But the department head sets the example for all other employees in the department, so if he/she is lazy, it trickles down.
As for complaining about this, talk to your store manager or the produce coordinator for your district. Something will get fixed if you tell them that customers complain and don't want to shop produce there.
In the produce dept at our store, we are constantly getting bad / old produce from the warehouse. I have complained to store management but it does no good. many times it is clear that the period of time between when a particular case of leaf lettuce (for an example) was packed (from the packing date shown on the outside of the crate or RPC) and the day we actually received it in on the truck order, is at least 6 to 8 days or even longer..........way too long. On top of that, we don't have nearly enough employee hours to make sure all the produce involved ( such as lettuces and greens) is properly "conditioned" ahead of time (rinsed or soaked in water, put back in the cooler for several hours to help crisp it) so I will be in best condition.
So there are a combination of factors..........also some items are being ordered in too large of quantities..........so if they are rotated correctly, the produce actually being put out on the sales floor is ALWAYS too old.
Even when the produce is coming in in great condition, we have the CHRONIC problem of Kroger not wanting to give us (in Produce and most othe depts. also) enough man-hours to keep everything neat, clean, fresh, and organized as it should be. This is a problem that stems from all the way to the TOP OF THE COMPANY. If the head-honchos REALLY cared, there would be changes and it would be noticeable. It's all about saving money. keeping labor costs low.............the bottom line.
Speaking of Organic............most of it is priced too high, and we throw away tons of organic stuff because it sells poorly (initially because of price, and then because of price AND poor quality since it it has been on the shelf too long............a vicious cycle) .
I suggest every employee in Clicklist (or other depts that don't realize what is involved) should work in the produce department a minimum of 2 weeks. You will then begin to understand what a mess we are in, and how difficult it is to keep the produce fresh when we are caught "between a rock and a hard place".
I also agree that Meijer and Walmart's produce usually looks better than Kroger. I wonder what their secrets are?
