Tens of millions of Americans are very familiar with the Costco schematic, which has shoppers entering through electronics heading down the long runway to fresh foods and then heading back up the other vertical aisle past frozen foods and packaged foods, typical center-store products and seasonal merchandise dominating the center of the warehouse.

Pharmaceuticals meet you before checkout and home services are displayed before you exit the warehouse.

Michael Walker, general manager of the Costco Wholesale warehouse adjacent to the company headquarters in Issaquah, WA, recently revealed that

Are you tired of hearing all about possible freezes in growing areas, short product supplies, quality problems and elevated costs? Is all that negativity making it difficult to come up with those key lead items for produce ads? Well, not everything is shattering news. Let’s consider a much more positive view of items that are within reach to promote.

Here are some top produce items that can drive high volume sales and are timely for aggressive promoting.

Strawberries: Central Florida demand is light, market slightly lower and quality very good. Mexico is reporting good volume, a very light

The original strategy for Costco Wholesale when the chain was launched four decades ago was largely based on creating a very efficient model to pass on savings to their customers, giving them the lowest price point possible, but always striving for top quality.

Launched in 1983 with one warehouse in Seattle, WA, Costco has grown to become the world’s third largest retailer with almost 900 stores across 14 countries and four continents. The North American market, with 617 warehouses in the United States, 109 in Canada and 41 in Mexico, represents 85 percent of its store locations.

Its sales for fiscal year 2024 hovered around $250 billion, which rank only behind Walmart and Amazon. Costco employs 330,000 people worldwide and is the world’s largest membership-based retailer with close to 139 million cardholders and more than 77 million paid

Everything at Costco Wholesale, including its produce section, revolves around its simple mission statement “to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.”

First and foremost, this mantra is achieved by limiting its offerings, which allows the company to concentrate its buying power and leverage that strength to exact the best possible price from its suppliers. The limited SKUs and the open-floor merchandising scheme also create enormous efficiencies, especially in the produce department, as they virtually eliminate hand stacking as almost

United Natural Foods Inc. completed its Spring and Summer Selling Show in San Diego, the first of the company’s 2025 show season. The two-day show brought together more than 4,300 attendees, connecting 1,800 retailers with 800 supplier brands. Exhibitors showcased thousands of unique brands spanning natural, organic, fresh, specialty and conventional grocery products.

During the show, UNFI experts discussed current trends and emerging growth opportunities across the grocery retail industry. Top trends include:

• Retail media is projected to grow over 24 percent annually between 2024 and 2028