For some businesses, shrinkage has been an area of concern. For those not familiar with the term, shrinkage refers to loss that comes as a result of improper control of a business’s inventory, which resulted from misinformation that ultimately causes economic loss for the impacted business. But, there are other ways economic loss can affect businesses. Find out how your business could experience produce loss.
Logistical Failures
Sometimes, transportation is not sufficient. It’s possible that the vehicle transporting your produce doesn’t have your vegetables refrigerated, which can impact their freshness. In other instances, inventory can be disorganized, and this can cause entire shipments of produce to be lost.
Problems With Quality Control
All companies vary with their quality control guidelines. With so many different benchmarks businesses strive to reach, the produce that’s delivered doesn’t always meet standards. If produce doesn’t meet your business’s standards, it can result in your business having to reject what was delivered.
Difficulty Predicting Production/Sales Rates
Waste can easily be caused when you don’t have the right amount of vegetables in your inventory. Sometimes, you end up getting too much from your distributor, and whatever doesn’t get sold ends up being thrown away. Since vegetables don’t last too long before they expire, you really have to hit the nail on the head when projecting sales rates to avoid tossing out too many items.
Ways to Stop Produce Loss
To start, you want to have a system in place that keeps a record of the orders you’ve made. This gives your business an easier time projecting sales based on past trends.
You also want to present customers with accurate depictions of whatever items you are selling to them. Show them catalogs or allow them to see the vegetables in-person. By letting your consumers see what they will be purchasing ahead of time, they will have more trust in your business and avoid being disappointed in products, which would result in the vegetables going to waste.
Lastly, keep a strong relationship with both your distributors and your consumers. Relationships are an important part of making your system work, and they can be among the most crucial factors for helping your business minimize waste.
Baywater Farms Has The Right Produce For You
Baywater Farms is a family-owned and operated farm servicing Baltimore, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware beaches, and the Eastern Shore. We are capable of meeting the demands of your produce distributor, restaurant produce supplier, CSA produce supplier, or wholesale produce supplier while maintaining the integrity and character of a small farm. When you work with Baywater Farms, you work with an experienced, ethical, and local farm dedicated to providing the highest-quality heirloom produce.