Have you ever wondered what a fresh produce section looks like in US supermarkets? How do you imagine it: small, big, non-existent or replaced by frozen products? And what is the produce like, high or low-quality? And what about the prices? Can the US be the new market frontier for Italian entrepreneurs?
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Freshness, high-quality, a strong sense of aesthetics, tidiness, arrangements based on the shelf-life, color and family of each product, plus vast and varied assortments: these are the peculiarities of fresh produce sections in US supermarkets, especially in Arizona, California and New York.
Fresh produce is always placed at the entrance and occupies a wide area. Plants, flowers and bouquets are usually found right outside but in November, it is also possible to find ornamental pumpkins and Christmas trees.
As for fruits and vegetables, all products are placed according to a specific logic: botanical family, product group, shelf-life. There is definitely a strong sense of aesthetics, as the produce is always appealing: the colors are always bright and the smallest grades are at least medium ones, so customers perceive to be buying high-quality products. Fruits and fruiting vegetables are placed on islands, e.g. one is dedicated to various types of tomatoes, one is for apples, one is for oranges, one is for potatoes, one is for garlic and onions etc. Leaf vegetables are instead found inside refrigerated units where a spraying system activates at set intervals to maintain their freshness. Separate units are destined to organic vegetables and, actually, some stores in California and Arizona sell only organic vegetables!
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When it comes to the fresh-cut range, unlike Italy where we mostly find ready-to-eat leaf vegetables, in the US a lot of the produce are diced fruits. Demand is very high and the products are usually placed next to yoghurts and healthy breakfast options.
Herbs, algae, edible fruits and baby greens are always visible and available except in small stores, but they are easily found in street markets too. A small part of the fresh produce section is dedicated to mushrooms although a wider assortment of the latter, together with truffles and truffle creams, is found in street markets in California and Utah. In addition, dried fruit and dried pulses dispensers are usually found nearby.
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Fresh produce is not cheap in supermarkets or street markets, meat and fish actually cost less. For example, 454 grams of chestnuts cost $10.99, 454 grams of tomatoes cost $2.99, ornamental pumpkins sell at $3,99 for 454 grams, bell peppers cost $4,99 for 454 grams and so on. Finally, when it comes to the possibility of selling fresh produce of Italian origin, it is indeed a challenge, yet not an impossible one. The main competition would be Mexico, where most of the produce comes from. There are good possibilities for processed products, especially preserves and jams, so much so that many Italian products are given good space on the shelves and sell at double or triple the price than in Italy.