The Produce Retail Podcast

Back by popular demand, we have a special guest on this week's episode — Dave Dunkak, a longtime executive in mobile computing and AIDC, frequently recognized throughout his career for setting sales records, leading successful teams and developing people ... and he's also the father of The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle! Dave and Ashley talk all things negotiation, including under...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Jennifer Anazawa , director of trade and category development for Mission Produce. Jennifer joins us to discuss what's happening in the avocado and mango categories. She talks about the growth of bagged avocados; consumer insights that support offering ripe fruit; price sensitivity of avocados and the variables that affect it; th...

Listeners looking to leverage floral as a growth area in 2025 are in for a treat: retail veteran Jennie Garbarek will join The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle on the show each month this year to discuss all facets of floral at retail. Jennie’s previous roles have included floral buyer at Roundy’s; category manager for floral at Mariano’s; and floral merchandising manage...

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Amanda Oren, the vice president of industry strategy for grocery at   RELEX. For any listeners who don’t know, RELEX is a platform that uses analytics and forecasting to help retailers optimize their supply chain and store operations so that what’s arriving at stores or being produced in stores matches demand. Amanda has more than 20 years of experien...

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Speaking of SEPC, Anne-Marie recently presented her What's New! r...

We're delighted to welcome as our guests for this week's episode Nicole Grant , director of customer development, and Rose Palacios , director of shopper marketing and merchandising — both from Driscoll's — for a deep dive on the berry category. Rose and Nicole discuss how broader industry trends are showing up in berries, including private label and supplier brands; value and premium options; con...

With this week's episode, we're delighted to bring you three excellent guests, all from The Giant Co. To celebrate the recognition of produce manager Chris O'Brien by the International Fresh Produce Association, we're visiting with Chris, regional fresh sales manager Anthony Deni, and director of produce and floral Chris Keetch. We hear from Chris O’Brien about his reaction to winning the award; h...

We're delighted to have as our guest for this week's episode Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores. In this conversation, Leigh takes us behind the scenes of category reviews, from the data his team examines in preparation for supplier meetings; to his recommended do's and do-not's for hopeful vendors; to the roles that logistics, cost of goods and innovation play...

We're delighted to have as our guests this episode Daniel Spivey, national director of fruit for Sprouts Farmers Market, and Reyna Graves, national director of veg and floral. Daniel and Reyna discuss topics including seasonal fruit destinations that drove record sales this summer; switching to more segregated merchandising of organic; riding the wave of the cucumber sandwich trend that started wi...

We're delighted to have as our guests on this episode Schnucks produce manager Aaron Carroll, produce sales merchandiser Meghan Hauck, and vice president of produce Mike Tipton. Aaron has been recognized this year by the International Fresh Produce Association as one of the best in the country. In this conversation, Aaron, Meghan and Mike visit with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle ab...

We’re delighted to have as our guests for this episode Tops Markets produce manager Brad Franklin and produce and floral field specialist Cole Bickal. Brad has been recognized this year as one of the honorees of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In this conversation, Brad discusses his start in the industry, what he finds most engaging about his w...

We're delighted to have as our guests for this week's episode produce manager Bishop Tart , supervisor Josh Smith and vice president of sales and marketing Price Mabry to talk about Bishop's recognition by the International Fresh Produce Association as part of the Retail Produce Manager Awards Program Class of 2024. Bishop talks about his start in the business (working with his dad, a produce mana...

We're delighted to welcome back to The Produce Retail Podcast longtime executive Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. He’s also been so kind to be a regular on this podcast and share his perspective on all kinds of executive...

We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode of the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known in produce and across the broader grocery landscape for her insightful reports and presentations on what's happening in different parts of the store and what's happening in the world of the consumer — how and why they say they're shopping the way t...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest on this episode of the podcast Brendan Haslam, director of strategy and category management for Bolthouse Fresh Foods, which is best known for carrots. Brendan takes us behind the scenes of his work digging into sales data to identify opportunities for the retailers his company serves. He discusses the importance of earning the trust of customers by making r...

We're delighted to welcome three guests for this week's episode: produce manager Alicia Lewis, produce merchandiser Mike Harrington, and vice president of produce operations Mike Roberts, all of Harps Food Stores. Alicia has been recognized by the International Fresh Produce Association this year as one of the best in the business as an honoree of the Retail Produce Manager Awards program, and so...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores. Leigh has been with AFS for 16 years now and was with Lee’s Marketplace for 13 years before that. In this week's conversation, he and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss how Leigh got started on the retail side of the business, including how he...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week longtime produce executive Dorn Wenninger. His most recent role was senior vice president of produce for UNFI, and before that he was vice president of produce and floral for Walmart. Before he moved to the buy side of the business, he worked for renowned suppliers Driscoll's and Chiquita. He was also a member of the inaugural board of directors fo...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest on this week's episode Lou Rotell, director of produce and floral for El Rio Grande Latin Market. The company recently set a new Guinness World Record for the largest fruit display, which featured avocados for Cinco de Mayo. Lou and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss the brainstorm that got the ball rolling on the plan for a record-breakin...

We're delighted to bring in as our guests today Jose Cartamil and Tom Foss, two veteran produce merchandisers who now work for Carlson AirFlo Merchandising Systems. Tom and Jose bring a unique perspective on the produce retail landscape. They each worked for many years as produce managers and merchandisers – Tom with Rainbow Foods and Roundy’s, Jose with Publix, Target and Supervalu – and in their...

We're delighted to bring out of the archives today a conversation from a couple years back with Alex Jackson, vice president of procurement and sales for Frieda's Branded Produce, about the origin of Love Your Produce Manager Day, a holiday that Frieda's created back in 2012. Before that discussion, The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle also shares a few words about her appreciation for th...

We’ve got a special treat for you today – a roundtable discussion with three retail dietitians who, along with being nutrition experts, have excellent insight into the consumer and are incredibly plugged into marketing at their companies. Our panelists are Harmons registered dietitian nutritionist Melanie Taylor , MS, RDN, CD; Raley’s nutrition strategist and corporate dietitian Yvette Waters , MS...

Hello and welcome to The Produce Retail Podcast! Our esteemed guest for this week's episode is Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Speaking of SEPC,...

We're delighted to welcome as our guest today Dan Weis, a longtime produce retail veteran who's been working in grocery stores for most of his life — including as a young kid tagging along with his dad on Saturdays! Dan has spent the majority of his career, more than 30 years, at King Kullen, a family grocer serving Long Island, New York. Dan was a produce manager there for 17 years and then a pro...

We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Claudia St. John, the founder and CEO of consulting, recruiting and training firm The Workplace Advisors. As regular listeners might recall, The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle recently published the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report, and career pathing was one of the topics covered. To learn more about what career...