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Giuseppe Iasella (Coop Italia), Vegetable sector Category Manager

Italy: At times like these, consumers buy less fruit

FreshPlaza interviewed Giuseppe Iasella (pictured to the right), Category Manager of the Vegetable sector for Coop Italia, for a comment on the current situation in retailing.

On 1st February 2014, it will be Iasella's 40th anniversary in Coop Italia, as he started work for them in 1974. In the mid-1990s, after the sector was reorganised, he became Category Manager for the Vegetable area.

"I was the manager for the North West with the previous organisation and in particular, I was stationed in one of our platforms at Pieve Emanuele. At the time, buyers had to buy everything from fruit to vegetables to 'ground-breaking' products i.e. what would later become the fresh-cut range."

The Category Manager and his partners 
The role of the Category Manager is to coordinate the activities of two specific buyers, select suppliers, define volumes and productive calendars of the supply and determine purchase prices.

"But the most fascinating part of my job is what is not codified. To all of us, Coop is the stimulus to reinvent ourselves and the produce every day, in order to make fruit and vegetables more appealing, to come up with new products and highlight their characteristics, to promote products in a market where most of time value does not reflect the quality."

Among the essential parameters a Category Manager working for Coop Italia must follow, there are work and relation ethics, the capability to produce "high quality" using methods that respect both human beings and the environment and the capability not only to produce an "healthy, tasty and ethically sound" product every day, but also to complement it with the perfect service for consumers.

"There have been some interesting experiences as regards the last aspects, but there is still a lot that needs to be done to promote innovation. I am convinced of the fact that produce can still provoke emotions."

Fruit and vegetable trade in the past and today
Analysing the changes in the last decades, Iasella says that "in the 1980s, modern products were only a small part of consumption, but those were the years where medium sized and larger distribution grew a lot. These were the years where we experimented with different sales methods. Then we went from packaged fruit and vegetables to loose products."

"Some pioneers sensed Italian consumers were ready for foreign methods e.g. from France or England, and so the first pre-prepared, washed and ready-to-eat salads were introduced. People experimented and grew, and to think that borders were still closed. In those years, Coop went about distinguishing itself in the area of cultivation, involving producers in various experiments. For example, less chemicals in fruit meant less chemicals in fields, to the benefit of consumers and operators. Coop products were born this way, and are still based on good agricultural practices against obscure origins and the exploitation of workforce." 



"We are going through an economic crisis, it's true, but we mustn't forget that crises has hit our country more than once over the years and in turn has made consumers spend less on fruit and vegetables. Data shows how they tend to consume less fruit on these occasions."

Strategies to relaunch fruit and vegetable consumption

Giuseppe Iasella thinks that crises can also present some opportunities: "I believe that this is the right time to experiment. It is at times like these that it is essential to find new ways to promote fruit and vegetables."

"In addition, the polarisation of consumption offers the perfect chance to develop high quality products with more appealing packaging that showcases the attractive characteristics of the products i.e. particular taste, seasonality, benefits for the health, etc. It may not be the only road to take, but we must be determined (our Fior-Fiore range follows this scheme and is still growing at an incredible rate!)."

"Of course everything must be developed whilst making the best value for money for consumers who are able to spend less but still require some basic standards."

How is it possible to encourage consumers to buy a certain product?
"The answer lies partly in what I said before: the supply must be be made according to the target and to the different parts of the country. In the South, for example, people traditionally buy more vegetables than fruit, It is still possible to improve though, thanks to new ways to present the produce and by working on quality."



"During the process to find 'new products' and with the help of Venetian producers, we have created a lovely 1 kg packet of red chicory of various varieties like Tardivo, Verona and Castelfranco, in which we have included a pamphlet that tells the story of chicory. We have also printed some recipes, which can be found on our Facebook page (Porta in tavola la salute) too. The initiative was very successful, despite the fact that it is an upper range product!"

Coop Italia's vegetable sales trend 
"Our data confirms the general consumption trend of week 41, i.e. consumers are buying less fruit than vegetables. If we don't take value into consideration, as it is still affected by high inflation, volume is positive despite the differences between Super and Hypermarkets and North and South," concludes Iasella.
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