The Produce Retail Podcast

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 w...

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 acros...

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 transi...

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 und...

We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode Erin Esensee, director of business development at Decowraps, and Jennie Kellerman Garbarek, sales director for mass market North America at Tessa. Erin was previously the longtime floral director of H-E-B, where she was recognized by IFPA in 2023 as Floral Marketer of the Year, and Jennie is a veteran of SpartanNash, Mariano’s and Round...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Clark Roper, a senior team leader at Chick-fil-A Supply, which is a subsidiary of Chick-fil-A. Clark has been with Chick-fil-A since 2022, but before that, he spent seven years as a produce buyer for Piggly Wiggly. Along with reflections on logistics, category management and more from his retail days, Clark shares his perspective...

We're delighted to welcome back to the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and industry associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. In this episode, Anne-Marie and The Produce Retail Podcast hos...

We're delighted to have as our guests for this episode Karli Nelson, supermarket sales manager of Chrysal USA, and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market North America for Tessacorp. In this episode, Karli — also known as the author of the Supermarket Floral Ad Roundup — and Jennie, alongside The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, dive into floral ad trends, how differe...

We're delighted to have as our guest for this episode Tim Deubner, a produce and floral manager for Town & Country Supermarket. He’s been in produce for more than a decade now and is dedicated to making his career in the industry and continuing to advance through the ranks. He’s probably one of the best out there at using LinkedIn to share his success stories, explain his thought p...

We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Tony Mirack, director of produce, floral and salad bar at McCaffrey's Food Markets. In this conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, Tony discusses his excitement about produce now having the "Wow!" factor thanks to varietal innovation in grapes, stone fruit, kiwi, berries, melons and more; the tricky calculus, giv...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week Marc Goldman, produce director at Morton Williams Supermarkets, a 17-store chain that has served New York City since 1952 and was just acquired by Wakefern. Marc has been with Morton Williams the better part of 30 years, and in this conversation he talks about his career; changes he’s observing in the competitive landscape; what he's loo...

We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods for the Food Industry Association, also known as FMI. Before Rick joined FMI in 2014, he spent more than 20 years at Safeway in various leadership roles across marketing, merchandising and operations, and he has overseen all sorts of large-scale special projects in that capacity. In this conversation, Ri...

We're delighted to bring you three guests in this week's episode: our recurring floral series star, Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for Tessacorp, and a veteran of Roundy’s, Mariano’s and SpartanNash; Jake Rupert, director of sales and marketing at North Country Growers and a veteran of Roundy’s and Kroger; and Justin Heffernan, the vice president o...

We're delighted to have produce manager Ryan Vann, produce regional supervisor Jason Riggs, and vice president of produce operations Mike Roberts — all from Harps Food Stores — as our guests this week. The International Fresh Produce Association has recognized Ryan as one of the best in the business, naming him among 20 honorees this year for its Retail Produce Manager Awards Program....

We're delighted to welcome as our guests for this week's episode — the latest installment in our floral series — Nadia Pregoni, category manager for floral at Stop & Shop; Stuart Vanstaalduinen, sales director at Bayview Flowers; and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market North America at Tessa. Nadia, Stu and Jennie visit with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle...

We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode GiGi Busch, who at the time of recording was a produce and floral analyst for Busch's Fresh Food Market. GiGi has since been promoted into a broader role of content creator, working with the marketing department. Prior to her role as a category analyst, she spent several years as a floral merchandiser. In this conversation with The Produce Retail...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Bob Veilleux, vice president of produce and floral operations at Vallarta Supermarkets. Bob’s previous stops have included Gelson’s, Gerrity’s, El Rio Grande Latin Markets, LaMontanita Co-op, and Sprouts. In this conversation, Bob and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss how Vallarta has shifted how...

Everyone in grocery retail wants a richer understanding of what’s happening with the consumer — what they’re thinking about and talking about, the questions they’re trying to get answered, the changes they want to make. Retail dietitians, who have in-depth conversations with customers on a daily basis, have excellent perspective in this area. With that in mind — and t...

We're delighted to have as our guests this week produce manager Dan Weis and store manager Michael Gillespie of The Fresh Market. In the grocery industry broadly, many companies try to be everything to every shopper, but The Fresh Market has a unique approach, focusing on premium meal solutions, special occasions, and holidays. Sampling plays a significant role, and the expectation (enabled by a c...

We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode Blaine Heilman, a produce industry veteran who’s entering a new career chapter as a consultant and sales director of Transcend Leadership Collective. Blaine’s previous roles have included president of sales at Sage Fruit, senior sourcing manager at Walmart, and director of domestic sales at Rainier Fruit Company. Our regular listeners...

In this third installment of our 2025 floral series, we're delighted to have as our guests Bradley Gaines, business director of floral for United Supermarkets, Market Street and Albertsons Market, and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp. Our regular listeners will recall that Jennie also has a retail background with stops including Roundy&rs...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this episode Brian Numainville, a longtime grocery retail veteran, consumer research expert, and the principal of The Feedback Group. Before founding that organization, he worked for nearly two decades at the Nash Finch Company, which merged with Spartan Stores in 2013 to become SpartanNash. In this conversation, Brian covers The Feedback Group's latest...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Matt Quiring, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nature Fresh Farms, for a deep dive on greenhouse commodities: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries. Matt discusses current trends and opportunities on the horizon for each category; what he's observing as far as growth of branded product sales versus private labe...

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...

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Ed Keefe, executive director of produce, floral and bakery merchandising and operations for Eickhoff ShopRite Supermarkets. Ed visited with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about the origins of his "Drop the Leash" philosophy; how he stays current on what the people in his stores need and how he can set them up for success; past reme...