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Hi everybody and welcome to another year in produce. Today I want to spend a little bit of time talking about the importance of planning. And yes, I know that most plans don't equal reality, but having a really solid plan for your perishable supply chain now absolutely means fewer challenges later. This is an area where Robinson Fresh is uniquely positioned to help. Not only do we have expertise in fresh produce, but we also have a lot of expertise in the supply chain and the combination of those two help to set you up for success. So as we think of the start of the year, your consumers are thinking about healthy eating. I don't know how successful we all are of that, but definitely focused on it. Produce items top their shopping lists, but one of the things we're noticing is the tropical category is actually seeing faster growth than average lift. From a supply chain perspective, even from a product perspective, tropicals can be a really tricky category. Seasonality, weather affect these items a lot and impact the supply chain that's already pretty complex in a big way. Having the right plan in place is important. We like you want your consumer to have what they want when they want it. When we think about our supply plan, we're sourcing product from 12 different countries of origin. That's to ensure consistency, quality, obviously the best eating experience. We transport them by truck to our own warehouses in Texas and Arizona. And we also bring them into the U.S. via ocean vessel through six difference U.S. ports. The combination of those things help to ensure the highest quality and cost competitive supply chains in the industry. This year we think that it's uniquely important. I spoke a little bit about the tropical category grown faster than some produce. And we actually expect that to nearly reach five billion dollars in retail sales across the United States. While that growth is true across all U.S. regions, those regions that have historically lower than average penetration in the category are seeing even faster growth as that consumer demand catches up. And that means that even our supply chains need to adjust too. One of the things that helps us do this is to leverage 270 different points of distribution. That ensures that we have product stored and shipping locations that are really close to you. It also ensures that we can help you with final mile or on-demand solutions that really help to keep your shelves stocked. Whether things are going according to plan or they're not. If any of these resonate with you, we would love to help. We would love to help you accelerate your tropical category goals and optimize that supply chain all the way from the field to your customer's fork.
With many people taking action on New Year’s Resolutions, the start of the year finds produce at the top of many consumers’ shopping lists. Tropical items like avocados, pineapples, mangoes, and bananas see a higher-than-average lift in sales during the earlymonths of the year.
Even beyond quarter one,the tropicals category has grown faster than the fruit category for the last 5 years and household penetration only continues to grow.
These tropical products can be challenging to source and distribute. Because they are grown primarily in southern regions outside of the U.S., inconsistent supply can cause empty shelves. Having continuous supply plus an aligned supply chain is critical to keep up with market demands.
