摘要：Over the past several decades, the fresh fruit and vegetable industry has been one of the most dynamic sectors in the U. S. food system. Consumer demand has soared to record levels and both suppliers and distributors have responded with impressive new programs, products and technologies. The objective of this report is to provide critical information on one of the most influential but least studied elements of the produce system: the supermarket produce buyer. This buyer represents the "gate-keeper" between the supply end of the distribution channel and the supermarket shelves. His standard operating practices (SOPs) and decisions have an enormous influence on industry performance. A "framework" for produce buying and selling SOPs is set forth in Section 2. The methodology employed for this research relied on both secondary information and primary data collection (Section 3). The primary data were gathered from the produce director or buyer in one hundred supermarket chains who responded to an extensive mail survey. Together, these respondents represent approximately 75 percent of overall supermarket chain produce sales. Additionally, several groups of key industry leaders, suppliers and buyers, were interviewed to assist with interpretation of the survey data.
