In Their Words: SpartanNash's Vic Savanello

Victor Savanello, regional vice president of produce and floral at SpartanNash, has more than 40 years of experience in the food, supermarket, and produce industries. SpartanNash is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has 145 retail stores and distribution to over 2,100 independent stores across nine states. OPN recently caught up with Vic to talk about SpartanNash's commitment to organic fresh produce and what consumers can expect from SpartanNash when it comes to organic fresh produce offerings.

Victor Savanello, Regional Vice President of Produce and Floral, SpartanNash

Please describe SpartanNash’s commitment to organic fresh produce.

As part of SpartanNash’s mission to deliver the ingredients for a better life, we’re 100 percent committed to growing the organic category. In some of our upmarket retail banners, including Martin’s Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market, and Forest Hills Foods, our ultimate goal is to be the destination for organic produce in the markets we serve. This year, we’re targeting double-digit growth, and we’re already on track with year-to-date organic sales being up well over 10 percent and climbing—beating national averages and way ahead of 2021 Midwest averages.

SpartanNash produce department

What changes have you made recently to your go-to-market strategy with organic produce?

Our basic philosophy is that if it’s available in organic, it should be on our stands. One of our new approaches to support growth is to offer some commodities, such as root vegetables and herbs, exclusively as organic.

"As part of SpartanNash’s mission to deliver the ingredients for a better life, we’re 100 percent committed to growing the organic category." - Vic Savanello

How are you sourcing locally to improve organic and fresh for customers?

We try to source locally as much as we can. It helps us deliver the freshest produce quickly to our stores, it’s more economical, and it’s part of a company-wide supply chain transformation to reduce fleet mileage this year. In places like the Midwest where growing crops outside year-round isn’t possible, we’ve found partners who grow produce, like romaine and lettuce, in greenhouses.

When a consumer walks into the produce department, what message or feel are you trying to convey to them?

When a store guest steps into our produce department, we want them to be surrounded by a beautiful, colorful display of the finest-quality produce, with incredible aromas, to give that “fresh-from-the-farm” vibe. We typically place organics in the direct line of sight of store guests, and sometimes they will be the first thing shoppers see.

"We try to source locally as much as we can. It helps us deliver the freshest produce quickly to our stores, it’s more economical, and it’s part of a company-wide supply chain transformation to reduce fleet mileage this year." - Vic Savanello

Your stores make great use of wooden bins to create an outstanding farm-stand look/feel. How does that play into the merchandising efforts you are doing?

The natural wooden bins really give our organic products that fresh farmers market feel. And they’re practical too, giving us the versatility to switch them around and showcase produce of all different sizes. Our retail operations team, led by Gary Dapice, found this amazing Grand Rapids-based nonprofit called Next Step, which helps people get back in the workforce, to make the bins for us.

SpartanNash's natural wood bins

As a retailer and distributor, we’ve tested produce displays and found that we are able to use those learnings to optimize our offerings and identify how to best recommend merchandising them for our independent grocery store customers. 

How do you specifically highlight organics in your produce departments?

We like to commingle some displays, with organics alongside conventional and call out organics with great signage and merchandising. Organic mushrooms and carrots are displayed with conventional; and we’ve had great success displaying organic and conventional bananas next to each other with an organic divider in between.   

What is your company's philosophy toward signage—and the messaging you want to convey?

Store guests often make purchasing decisions on the spot, so signage has to work hard and grab attention. We use large track signage and wide organic signage rails surrounding our organic wooden bins and cut and wrap some of the organic product to show off the great quality. In many of our upmarket banner stores, we use A-frame chalkboards that mirror what you might see at a farmers market to highlight special promotions or seasonal organic product offerings.

"We like to commingle some displays, with organics alongside conventional and call out organics with great signage and merchandising." - Vic Savanello

Looking to the future, what can consumers expect from SpartanNash when it comes to organic fresh produce offerings?

Consumer demand for organic products is going to continue to grow, and we want to continue to surprise and delight our store guests—and the guests of our independent customers—by working with our vendors and our customers to offer as many organic options as are available and at prices that compete with conventional produce prices.