As a Morrisons customer, you want to buy the freshest fruit and veg any time you want, whether it’s first thing in the morning or just before the store shuts. This is achieved by keeping a consistently high standard in the produce department of Market Street – something that Nick Maslen knows all about.
Nick, 29, has worked for Morrisons for 12 years, starting on a part-time basis as a college student before working his way up to Produce Manager. Based at the Starbeck store in Harrogate, he has recently been seconded to the new store in York. He has also been promoted to Regional Trainer, which means he trains other Produce Managers in the area.
Nick’s day starts bright and early at 5.30am when he checks the day’s delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables. His role is to ensure that he and his 16-strong team have the fresh produce department ready for when the store opens for customers at 8am. “We need to make sure everything is in good condition and is attractively presented,” explains Nick. “The availability of all our lines – around 400 – has to be spot on.”
Great choice
Throughout the day, it is Nick’s responsibility to see that the fruit and veg department is always full and he constantly checks quality. “It’s all about maintaining the standard from the first customer to the last customer,” he says. “My role is to make sure every customer has a good experience in store and I find it really satisfying to get the department set up for customers so that they have the best choice. That’s what Market Street is all about – fresh, quality food that’s good value for money.”
Presentation for perfection
As with all the departments within Market Street, the way in which the fruit and vegetables are presented is taken very seriously. However, as Nick explains, it’s not all just about making the produce look good – it’s about keeping them in the best condition. “We present our fresh fruit and veg in a slightly different way at Morrisons. For example, we hang up all bunches of bananas to ensure they don’t get bruised – they’re hung just the way nature intended. We also price each bunch individually so that customers know exactly what they’re paying for. We’ve received really good feedback about this from our York customers.” Another difference is that fruit such as melons are kept in individual holes or ‘shies’ to keep them in good condition.
“Arranging melons in shies means that they’re not stacked up on top of each other, which helps to keep them from being damaged,” explains Nick. “For extra choice we also sell portions of melon – ripe for that day – which we keep in the fridge. “We also cut off the stems of broccoli so that you only pay for what you eat,” says Nick, “and we trim off the leaves from our cauliflowers – although we let our customers help themselves to the leaves to take home for their pet rabbits, free of charge.
“We also offer loose fruit and veg for most varieties, especially produce that’s in season, so customers can buy just what they need.”
Helpful advice
Another part of Nick’s role is to answer customers’ queries. “I get many regular customers who come in and say hello. They might ask me to pick out a ripe melon for them,” says Nick, “or they might ask me when a pineapple or avocado will be best to eat.
“I try to offer as much advice as I can. You also often find that customers help each other out with cooking tips.” Nick also gets asked about storing fresh fruit and veg. “With fruit, I’d always advise putting it straight in the fridge – except for bananas.
In fact, we follow the same advice in store, as we’ve introduced a chilled soft fruit section. With this, we can ensure that the cold chain is always maintained from the refrigerated wagon to the fridge in the store rooms to the chilled cabinet on the shop floor. By keeping the temperature constant, we can help the fruit last longer.”
Changing tastes
During his career at Morrisons, Nick has noticed a lot of changes in the way people eat. “We stock a lot more unusual fruit and veg now,” he says. “We get new varieties in the whole time, such as winter squash.” He puts people’s more adventurous tastes down to the number of popular celebrity chef programmes on TV. “These chefs are introducing people to many less popular vegetables and are giving them ideas on ways to cook them.”
He also believes that more education on the benefits of eating five portions of fruit and veg has made a big difference. “The 5-a-day campaign has done wonders for fruit and veg sales. People know a lot more about food and what’s good for them so they want to buy lots of lovely fresh fruit and vegetables.”
In terms of his own taste, Nick always looks forward to summer and the array of fresh fruits the season brings. “It’s great when the summer fruit such as strawberries and raspberries are at their best. This section is always really popular with our customers.”
Fresh every day
Nick’s day finishes around 4pm – a long day but it’s a working day that he finds enjoyable and satisfying. “What I really enjoy about the job is that every day you always see the beginning and end of what we sell. The fruit and vegetables come in fresh, we sell it fresh and then we start all over again the next day.”
How we find the freshest fruit and veg
At Morrisons we take pride in our relationships with our local produce suppliers because we believe that this helps us maintain quality. We work with the British farming industry to source as much produce as possible from UK farmers and growers.
When in season, 100 per cent of carrots, broccoli, swede, cauliflower and 90 per cent of onions, mushrooms and potatoes are British. This means that our vegetables really are as fresh as they possibly can be in store.
Morrisons relies on several local produce suppliers. Stewarts of Tayside, for example, supplies raspberries, strawberries and swede to stores in Scotland. We also have growers in Lancashire supplying lettuces to stores in the north and the Midlands, and in East Anglia serving stores in the south. We pack more than half of all our fruit and veg ourselves in depots around the country and deliver it to our stores as quickly as possible. This way, we ensure that it’s top quality and as fresh as it can possibly be.
