Merchandise to Make “What’s for Dinner?” Easier

By the time shoppers hit the produce department on a busy weeknight, many aren’t looking for inspiration; they’re looking for an answer. Make fresh organic produce part of that answer by merchandising around easy meals, not just individual items. 

Convenience matters: washed, trimmed, pre-cut, steam-ready and meal-ready options make fresh produce easier to choose and prepare. The opportunity for retailers? Take a little of the thinking out of dinner. 

Build a Weeknight Helpers destination. Bring together the produce that earns its keep across multiple meals: bagged salads and kits, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, leafy greens, potatoes, fresh herbs, onions and spaghetti or delicata squash. Mix in value-added options where they make sense—pre-cut veggies, steam-ready packs and other shortcuts can help shoppers get from cart to table faster.  

Make simple sides obvious. A small sign can do a lot of work: Roast it. Toss it. Steam it. Grill it. Merchandise potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and green beans as easy sides rather than leaving shoppers to figure out what to do with them. At shelf, quick prep cues can be more useful than lengthy recipes.  

Help them build the whole meal. Create mini meal destinations around familiar ideas: salad kits + protein, stir-fry vegetables + tofu or sauce, potatoes + fresh herbs, or squash + greens + Parmesan. Cross-merchandising complementary ingredients can make shopping more convenient while encouraging shoppers to add multiple items to their baskets.  

And don’t forget the meatless main. Hearty squash, leafy greens, mushrooms, cauliflower and potatoes can move from side dish to center plate with a few well-placed pairings and simple serving inspiration. 

The goal isn’t to give shoppers another recipe to follow. It’s to make them look at the display and think: Dinner. Done.