02/09/05 Category management and fruit sales, Pt.3

As more and more fruit industry sales desk use category management as a tool to break down sales data both within their own shops and throughout the industry, there is a pitfall they must avoid. That's according to Bob Mast of C.M.I., who has had previous control management experience in the retail sector. What that pitfall is getting wrapped up in the numbers, instead of incorporating them into the big picture. MAST: And category management is basically an analysis of the numbers. How the apples, pears, and cherries are moving through the system. But that's just one part of it. A bigger part of is also going out analyzing the competition, analyzing what's going on in that market, looking at the display size. And the biggest goal, according to Mast, is helping the retail grow their business, which in turn, develops a long term partnership between the fruit industry shipping desks and the retailers. Robert Kershaw of Domex notes that since category management first entered the fruit industry about decade ago, through the form of P.L.U. stickers on individual fruit, category management has proven its worth by presenting retailers tangible and beneficial data. KERSHAW: Through category management, we've shown the retailer and the retailer has shown us that we're a profitable commodity, and what a better position to be in than to grow a commodity that has been profitable for the retailer. More on our next program.