“We are seeing more focus on health and well-being. Customers want healthy, affordable food which is easy to access and fresh produce is centre stage,” he told the Horticulture Conference 2017 in Tauranga last month.

Freshness is top of the list of consumer demands, followed by price. Consumers also want the right produce in the right store; to feel they are shopping in a market, and that there is someone on hand to give advice if required.

Steve says by dealing directly with growers, Countdown is able to reduce the time from farm to plate and ensure produce freshness.

The chain only imports produce when it has to. “We are currently (in early July) selling new season New Zealand oranges, while some of our competitors are still selling imported Australian oranges. The loyalty we show to our New Zealand growers is a lesson other retailers could learn from.”

Direct trade with growers enables the maximisation of the value chain. “Seventy-five per cent of our produce is bought on a direct basis with growers. This is not new; some of our growers have been supplying us direct for 25 years.

Sustainable farmers

“I am super passionate about delivering as much profit back to the grower as possible. The grower takes the biggest risks and has the most to lose so rewards should reflect this. Without sustainable farmers, we don’t have business. That farmers are able to invest in their business, and develop new varieties and crops is really important to us.”

Respect for the grower’s hard work and the produce they supply is also important, says Steve.

“I estimate we have 12,000 people working in produce in our 185 stores and it’s a real challenge to have them all passionate about respecting the produce they sell. There is nothing worse than a grower seeing their produce disrespected in-store.

Odd Bunch

“Our in-store teams are the last defenders of freshness. We have improved our game but will take that further over time. One tool to drive this home is farm visits. We take produce managers on-farm to show how hard it is to grow quality produce and this starts to build real respect within our team. We will extend this to include store managers and duty managers.”

The ‘Odd Bunch’ promotion is not only proving popular with consumers but is also reducing food waste, says Steve. The promotion aims to market fruit and vegetables which are slightly misshapen or have minor blemishes.

“Consumers like that we are being honest that the produce has got a few blemishes, and are championing that it looks odd but tastes great and reduces food waste while improving grower returns.”

The Odd Bunch promotion is appealing to shoppers in high-end stores who want to help the environment by reducing food waste, and shoppers in lower end stores who want a good bargain.

Another project, which some within the supermarket chain though could be risky, has proved to be a resounding success, says Steve.

“Free Fruit for Kids was run as a trial in one store, but when we discussed rolling it out in all stores some of the team worried what would happen if kids ran in and ate all the free fruit. We sat back and thought about it and decided if the worst thing that happened was we were feeding hungry kids, that was not a bad thing.

“Now we give away 50,000 pieces of fruit a week and we don’t ask growers to support us in this. It is a true gift to the community from Countdown.”