In 2012, ProNatura, an Organic Alliance company, decided to launch a training program for organic professionals, which became BioAcademy, with new themes, in 2016. The goal is to develop the organic sector by supporting department managers and sales advisors in their development.” After a period of hiatus due to Covid, training sessions resumed in 2023, with completely redesigned materials, tools and charter.
The first session of 2023 already took place in March in Strasbourg, and was attended by 10 people.
Developing the organic sector
Since its launch, BioAcademy “has already trained several hundreds of organic professionals, including department heads of specialized stores,” a target audience of this training program. The program helps specialized wholesalers “develop organic channels”, explains sales director Gautier Villiaume. “We support stores in their quest for performance. Each training course covers essential topics aimed at understanding the organic sector, which is constantly evolving, in order to grasp the issues and challenges, with a reminder of the different labels, regulations and controls involved.” The organic market “evolves constantly, and the search for the ideal selection can sometimes become an equation with several unknowns.”
Strengthening team expertise
The training provided by BioAcademy “reinforces team expertise by giving participants the skills needed to better manage the seasonality and variability of products, and thus to maximize their impact on sales.” According to Gautier Villiaume, “after one session, trainees already have sufficient knowledge and gain greater autonomy in managing their departments.”
In order to “manage a department well all year round,” BioAcademy offers “support through the seasons”, with a program including 4 training courses: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, divided into two areas: theory and practice.
Theoretical objectives:
- Know and promote the fruit and vegetable range.
- Anticipate variations in volumes for products making up 20/80 of the selection, ensure daily substitutions, and inform customers about seasonal products.
- Prepare a shelf promotion calendar, prepare a promotional operation and display a family of products.
- Understand the product and how to care for it.
Practical objectives:
- Take ownership of the department, make the best use of its dimensions, eliminate false problems, and adopt rational display solutions.
- Determine the optimum selection to achieve sales objectives and customer satisfaction.
- Plan relocation, organize work and anticipate seasonal changes.
- Prepare orders, taking key parameters into account. Set up and monitor the department during the day.
One-day training courses in several cities
The training is provided over the course of a day (7 hours), “by organic fruit and vegetable experts at ProNatura sites in Cavaillon, Nantes, Strasbourg, Rungis and Perpignan.” These are strategic locations, near the ProNatura sites. “It is important for us to be able to welcome our clients in the best possible conditions, and to be able to take them to our partner producers. The limit is set by the travel time for each person and the number of people registered for the session.” Each session can accommodate 6 to 10 people, “in order to keep things easy and practical.” A visit to the producer is also organized in the afternoon, “in order to give store managers or those in charge of fruit and vegetable departments a different perspective, to change their approach and enrich their knowledge of the upstream chain.” At the end of the day, each participant receives a BioAcademy diploma.
BioAcademy also offers customized training
As a novelty for 2023, BioAcademy also offers customized training “to meet the specific requirements of certain stores.” The company is currently “working on a pilot program for 2024 with a specialized organic chain. The goal is to be able to solve specific problems of our clients, and to work together with them in order to find the solutions that will help them develop their stores and boost their sales.”
Dynamic training
For optimum training, the BioAcademy training program is designed to evolve in line with societal changes. “The fruit and vegetable market is highly impacted by our ecological environment, as well as by our economic environment. Current issues and challenges are therefore tackled as closely as possible to what the market is like at any given moment. This year, for example, we are tackling the issue of rising costs for long-storage products, energy costs in stores and the repercussions of higher diesel prices. Together, we discuss actions and plans to raise awareness.”
For more information:
BioAcademy
bioacademy.fr
