Retail Support

Retail Support for Produce Teams

Produce teams play a big role in how shoppers experience avocados. From how fruit is handled in the back room, to how it’s displayed and talked about on the floor, small details can make a big difference to quality, sales, and waste.

This page brings together practical tools designed to support produce staff at every stage. Whether you’re training new team members, refreshing knowledge at the start of the season, or looking for quick answers during a busy shift, these resources are made to be easy to use, print, and share.

All resources are free to download and can be used in store, in the back room, or as part of team training.

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Avocado Supply

The NZ Avocado Grower Association would like to recommend the following tips
to ensure the best sales result for your store.

• Order daily
• Check quality on arrival – watch out for:
  x Immature fruit with green shiny skin – this won’t ripen
  x Overripe fruit- black and soft to touch
  x Excessive skin damage
• Remember ripening rates vary throughout the season, so some fruit will ripen faster than in another month.
• Use the ripeness colour charts to identify ripeness stage.
• Green fruit will ripen at room temperature – don’t store in the chiller.
• Purple ripe and ready to eat fruit should be stored in the chiller or in a chilled display.
• Remember avocados damage very easily, take extra care when handling

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Ripening & Display

• Avocados ripen after harvest – store green fruit at room temperature until ripe.
• Once ripe, avocados can be kept in the fridge to extend shelf life.
• Keep ripe and unripe fruit separate both in storage and on display.
• Avoid letting customers squeeze fruit – use signage to explain ripeness stages.
• Displays sorted according to ripeness, regularly refreshed and ripe fruit always available.
• Display fruit with complementary items if possible, to boost sales (e.g. wraps, tomatoes, eggs)

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Retail Training Video

Downloadable resources

If you’d like to receive printed display resources or discuss how we can support your team with bespoke resources, please get in touch with NZ Avocado at communications@nzavocado.co.nz.