Fresh Produce

1
Fresh Produce

• Why purchasing fresh produce can be so difficult?
• Requires skill and knowledge and huge
  responsibility
• Fresh-produces are fluctuated in quality,
  quantity, and price on a daily basis.
• Buyer should know how to determine the good
  quality products, the poor quality products, and
  the quality variations (Geographical areas soil
  and climatic condition, Seasonal changes, Natural
  or manmade disasters, and Changes in Demand)

2
Selection Factors

• Intended Use The buyer must identify exactly
  products performance requirement. This could
  save money in the long run. For example, some
  fruits that must be on the display in a banquet
  should be a premium one for the appearance, but
  for the preparation they would be a lesser
  quality one.
• Exact name There are many new types and
  varieties of produces in the market including the
  genetically modified foods, which are filled with
  a lot of terminology, so it is necessary to
  understand the terminology of produce item that
  used in your operation. Such as apple, there are
  Jonathan, McIntosh, Fuji, and so forth.

3
Selection Factors

• U.S. Government Inspection and Grades In 1930,
  the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act
  (PACA) was signed it prohibited unfair practices
  in the interstate commerce of fruits and
  vegetables, followed by the Agricultural
  Marketing Act (AMS) that was signed into law in
  1946. This act gave the AMS basic authority for
  major functions, including federal standards,
  grading and inspection services, market news
  services, market expansion, and consumer
  education. Currently, there are 150 types of
  fruits, vegetables, and nuts that has been
  graded. The grades are used as a quality
  guideline for buyer.
• The most commonly used terminology for fresh
  fruit, vegetables, and nuts are
• Fancy the top quality produced represents
  about 1 of all produce
• No. 1 the bulk of the items produced the grade
  that most retailers purchase
• Commercial slightly less quality that US No. 1
• No.2 much less quality that US No. 1 very
  superior to US No. 3
• Combination usually a mixture of US No.1 and US
  No. 2 products
• No. 3 low quality products just barely
  acceptable for packing under normal packing
  conditions
• Field run an ungraded product

4
Selection Factors

• Packers brands Mostly, branded fresh produce is
  not common like branded canned and frozen goods.
  The advantages of using fresh produce from a
  packers brand are details of packing process (a
  particular cleaning and cooling process),
  estimated cost of edible portion (EP) cost, and
  consistency.
• Product size It is a very critical selection
  factor. Consistency of products size and cost can
  not be achieved if you are unaware of the fresh
  produce sizes available. Buyers should be able
  to indicate produce size and count such as lemon,
  the more the count the smaller the lemon.
  Another common way is indicating produce size by
  number of pieces per layer of the lug or box. For
  example, 4 by 5 of a lug of tomatoes, it has 20
  (45) tomatoes per layer.

5
Selection Factors

• Size of Container Consider size of container
  that is consistent with your needs of the
  operation.
• Type of Packaging Material The AP price
  variation for some fresh produce is related
  solely to the quality of packaging less
  expensive material may be scantily packed, and
  more expensive material may be wrapped in
  high-quality pakaging.
• Packaging Procedure
• 2 Forms of Packaging
• Layered Merchandise the product is arranged
  nicely, usually between sheets of paper or
  cardboard.
• Slab-Packed Merchandise The product is randomly
  placed into a container with no additional
  packaging.

6
Selection Factors

• Minimum Weight Per Case The weight will vary
  from case to case. Therefore, buyers should
  indicate the minimum acceptable weight on the
  specification in order to receive the appropriate
  amount while giving suppliers some shrink
  allowance. Another case is decay allowance
  buyer can also indicate the acceptable amount of
  unusable ones per case in the specification as
  well.
• Product Yield Indicate a certain amount of
  trim, or unavoidable waste.
• Point of Origin Note on the menu the point of
  origin for certain menu offerings.
• Color

7
Selection Factors

• Product Form determine which product best meets
  the requirements of the operation.
• Fresh-off-the-vine
• Ready-to-serve
• Value-added products (Pre-cut)
• Degree of Ripeness
• Fully ripened produce
• Mature
• immature
• Green produce
• Ripening Process Used Some produces are ripened
  in a ripening room, where the ethylene gas are
  introduced into the room to speed up the ripening
  process.

8
Selection Factors

• Preservation Method
• Refrigeration some fresh produces can rapidly
  deteriorate under unrefrigeration, which affect
  the EP cost to be greater. Some precuts and
  convenience fresh produces such as salad greens
  should be delivered at temperature of
  approximately 34 F to 36 F.
• Waxing The wax prevents moisture loss and also
  contributes to the appearance of the produce.
  Some items likely to be waxed are apples,
  avocados, bell peppers, cantaloupes, cucumbers,
  eggplant, grapefruit, lemons, limes, melons,
  oranges, parsnips, passion fruit, tomatoes, and
  etc.
• Controlled-atmosphere storage This room is
  sealed and oxygen is removed, then variety of
  other gases are introduced in order to retarding
  spoilage and reducing the rate of respiration,
  but the produce that will rapidly deteriorate
  after removed from the controlled room.
• Chemically treated produce The produce will have
  a longer shell life.

9
Selection Factors

• Trusting the Supplier Building a trusting
  relationship with your suppliers may be the key
  to the success because supplier are linked to
  several crucial factors, including delivery
  schedules, seasonal changes, weather factors,
  supplier buying capabilities, transportation and
  storage facilities, and the speed with which the
  supplier rotate products.

10
Step in Purchasing Fresh Produce

• Obtain the PMA Fresh Produce Manual, a
  publication that contains detailed specification
  for many fresh produce items.
• Decide on the exact type of produce and quality
  wanted
• Prepare specifications for each item
• Consider the supplier

11
Receiving Fresh Produce

• Conduct a visual inspection of the top layer
• Check the amount, weight, count, size, and
  quality throughout the carton or box
• Random sampling of a proportion of containers
• Check the prices
• complete the appropriate accounting documents
• Figure 17.6 Page 391-393 Signs of acceptable
  and unacceptable quality in some fresh fruit
  items

12
Storing Fresh Produce

• Fresh produce must be stored immediately at the
  proper temperature and humidity
• To extend the shelf life of fresh produce, buyers
  must research the best possible storage
  environment for each fruit and vegetable.
• Fresh produce should not be moved around, bended
  or bounced too much because this will cause
  unnecessary bruising and spoilage.
• Follow proper stock rotation.