Who here works in the produce section of a grocery store?

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If anybody does and is successful at it please let me know.

I worked a long time at a grocery store as a teenager, and briefly did work in the produce section. It was just a matter of learning the different tasks that made up the job: Putting out the different items in the right places, chopping and wrapping certain things with the plastic wrapper, helping customers find things, and putting the items away at closing time. Whatever part is giving you trouble, just take your time and figure it out. Feeling rushed is what leads to most mistakes. At least it leads to most of mine. Even if you have to make a customer wait, make sure you're doing it right. And even if you think you're annoying your coworkers and bosses by asking questions, ASK QUESTIONS! You will be MUCH better off doing that then guessing on your own and possibly getting it wrong.

Ooh, ooh, I do I do! *jumps up and down clapping happily* Over here!

I think it's great. The only problems for me are customers/noise. But it's awesome because I spend all day making patterns... with food.

I worked in a supermarket for 22years, most of my life. I started at 16 and have worked in every dept. I was a seafood manager, a deli manager,and a store closer. The key in any dept is hard work.
All of the tasks that you do in a grocery store are very repetitive. If you have different people training you on a task, they will probably show you how to do it a different way, because they are showing you the way that THEY do it. Pick the one that you are most comfortable with/ that makes the most sense to you, and do it that way.
Just calm down and follow a few simple rules.
1) learn the task
2) do it the same way every time (if possible)
3) work on speed
4) look for what else needs to be done.
5) If you are not sure ASK!! !
Example" I noticed that the bananas are running low, do you want me to fill those now? or would you like me to bail the cardboard first"

Another way to get the dept manager to like you is to CLEAN!! !! ! If you finished doing what you were asked to do, try grabbing the broom and sweeping the cooler, or washing the cutting boards. If the dept manager sees you working hard and trying, he/she will give you a little more time to work on speed and product recognition. GOOD LUCK!! !!

@ Druidsbird: Ok excellent, but before we get into the nitty gritty let me give you some backdrop on my self. I was diagnosed @ 26 and began work for a grocery store @ 27. I spent a year scrubbing shitters and bagging groceries. Then I got promoted to Grocery Clerk 2'nd shift. I go to college also. I almost failed # the grocery clerk job until I saw my academic liasion for students with disabilities. I explained to him what I had to do on the job and how I was apparently not going fast enough. He informed me that time sensitivity and innovation were key to success in that particular department. I did that along with some hands on instruction from one of the night crew leaders and I was successful for one year.

I then was promoted to the organic foods section which did not last long because of the fact that the company as a whole had to ship around other people from a store that shut down.


I was told that I was being moved to produce not because of anything I did but because the person coming in had much more experience than me.

Now my question to you is how did you obtain success in the produce section?

Here is what I know so far on how to be successful

I have to know EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT ME TO DO, HOW THEY WANT ME TO DO IT, AND I MUST HAVE A TIME FRAME TO DO EACH TASK. Also keeping a lost of daily activities with time frames works as well.

So speed and product recognintion are key to being successful in the produce section?

I think the most important things for me were to learn all about the products. People will ask you how to prepare them, how and where they were grown, how they compare to other alike products nutritionally, and of course how they taste. Try to pick up as much of that info as you can as you go along.

Also, if you work at a store that builds those really huge tricky displays, like the free-standing pyramids of apples and things like that... Learn to do it right, even if it takes you forever at first to get it right. It's better than picking them all up off the floor later.

Keep the bananas full. People are less likely to buy bananas off a half-empty display.

I have a habit my bosses don't like, which is that I get too focused on little details. Like making perfectly symmetrical patterns in the apple display. And I tend to only be paying attention to that and the rest of the department starts to look hammered while I'm perfecting the apples.

That's really all I can think of. But if there's a specific question you want answered, I'll be happy to answer it.

Yes to both. But my bosses were far more concerned with product recognition and doing a good job, than with doing it quickly. Speed is something that you will pick up with experience.