Talking produce with CPMA chair Sam Silvestro
Sam Silvestro is a guy who spends a lot of time thinking about fruits and vegetables and who knows, too well, the challenges of selling them in Canada. Sourcing headaches, weather, rules, regs, fickle consumers, shrink, safety, GMOs—he’s had to contend with it all over the decades, first in his own shops in his hometown of Guelph, Ont., followed by long stretches at Sobeys, then Walmart.
But, he also sees his industry as one that’s brimming with opportunities. With his year-long stint as chair of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) coming to an end in May, we took the opportunity to chat with Silvestro about all things produce.
What lessons are still relevant from your early days selling produce?
Value. People are always looking for value when it comes to food, especially fruits and vegetables. Nobody wants a rotten tomato. Nobody wants a bruised banana. People want to know that there’s care and handling that’s gone into the food they buy.
What are the biggest challenges currently facing the produce industry?
Labour’s always a big question, on the farm or at retail—everyone always wants to find people. It’s not easy. Whether you’re on a farm in Mexico or California, or right here in Canada, it’s really hard to find local people who want to do that type of work. And on the retail side, it’s finding people who want to make a career
Kale may be big today, jackfruit tomorrow. How agile do produce managers have to be to keep up with ever-changing consumer preferences?
You have to be very, very nimble; you have to know the marketplace. Our marketplace continues to change and, with the influx of immigrants, you have to know who your next customer is going to be. If we go back a decade or so, we didn’t sell much karela or okra but today—depending on your customers—those products have become staples. You have to have them.
There’s a lot of discussion around GMOs. What’s your take?
It’s
How has working with an organization like CPMA helped you in your business over the years?
Whether I was at Sobeys or whether I was at Walmart, the wonderful thing about being part of CPMA is being able to sit in a room with your major competitors. You’re not sharing any secrets or confidential information, you’re not telling each other what your sales or margins are, but as a collective, what you’re trying to do is sell more fruits and vegetables, trying to increase that part of the business. It’s also about the common good. How do we improve traceability? How do we improve healthy eating? How do we check childhood obesity? Are there ways we can help with cancer, with heart
Boosting consumption is critical to the future success of the produce industry. What is CPMA doing to help achieve this?
There are all kinds of initiatives we’re working on. One is called 20 by 20, which is about trying to boost
How has CPMA stepped up its efforts to provide education and training for produce workers?
We’ve released a bunch of new podcasts and some
complete success for us.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you could give to produce managers?
Never stop learning. Never stop. Listen to your customers. There’s just so much material out there that is available that will help explain what the new trends are. Your magazine, for instance—pick it up, read it, see what the new challenges are. What are the new things that people are looking for? Just don’t stop learning. And in the store, don’t do the same thing every day. Don’t keep the apples up at the front or the oranges, or whatever the case may be—continue to change things around; make it interesting for the customer who comes into your store.