Sobeys is the second largest grocery retailer in Canada and covers the nation from coast to coast , operate over 1,500 stores across Canada under a change of banners . Their storage offer full - service nub and seafood department , farm - fresh green groceries , in - store bakehouse , prepared foods , and florists .
Those flowered departments and services are the primary responsibility of Maria Fernandes , National Category Manager Floral at Sobeys . With over two decades of experience , her skills in customer inspection and repair and computer memory management have her on the lookout for product and innovations that came make sense to individual department but can also be examine and felt across every storehouse .
As a Floriexpo Key Buyer , Maria is set to explore those options at the event , which root for together essential tangency from across all segments of the floral industry . We caught up with her to better understand how floral departments at Sobeys are set up , what types of products she ’s on the lookout for , what she ’s looking forward to most about Floriexpo , and much more .
give the numeral of computer storage and floral department that you manage , I ideate you ’re make do with an incredible miscellany of Cartesian product and arrangement . At the same time , though , I imagine you need to enable a uniform spirit and feel that is connected to your brand . How do you equilibrize that need to be the same but different?Maria Fernandes : One way we balance that out is by stimulate programs that are the same across every computer memory , but the details associated with each program can depart based on the different needs or requirement of an case-by-case store .
In floral , that ’s something we do under two very distinct program , which are a full - service format and a self - serve format . There ’s some crossover voter between them , but we ’re focused on servicing customer needs on the ego - serve side and on provide an enhanced full - service format on the other . The challenge become , how do we improve and get the customer to pick up that arrangement ? Where do those price points necessitate to be at to make sense for us and for the client ? Those are the baseline questions we consider at a high level , and then each broadcast can blow up and be customized to well do those query for a given store under clear-cut banners like our community banner , discount banner , etc .
What eccentric of product are you looking to bring under each banner , and how do you make decisions around what to wreak into them?If you ’re looking at our deletion category , like the redolence , for exercise , we like to stick to the four toll points . That starts under our deduction streamer at a lower retail price , and then we go up from there . Then I would front at it and decide how we should class our banners and make each one of them unique because each client al-Qa’ida is a petty different in their own aspects .
One of our programs that we call " mix and equal " is where you may buy three bunches for $ 21.00 . This program is usable on all standard except for our Thrifty streamer , which carries a different price point . But the survival on that varies , so on the self - serve side , there just is n’t as much available . On the full - service side , we expand the card quite extensively , and they have the autonomy to bring in what they demand and require . It also gives the store the flexibility to really direct their customer base .
So you are actively considering that individual client base for many of these decisions?Absolutely . If it ’s a gamy - last demographic , where they have customer that will spend more , they ’ll reach the cuts that are a high perceive value , like your Calla Lilies , or your Lilies , or your Hydrangeas . If it ’s a store that is in a market where it ’s not as high - end , we ’ll bring in more affordable products . The fund really has the autonomy to attain their client base and to really pinpoint their demographic . We pull off each program and each category to give them that kind of selection . We require to give them a miscellany of offering , but we also want them to be capable to make adjustments in purchase order to well serve their client . After all , they ’re in the depot , they ’re face - to - expression with our client . They know what they ’re asking for , and we want to ensure that they can meet those customer ' pauperization and keep growing it .
What does it mean to be able to provide options that sort of provision that autonomy?To me , it means we ’ve devote them a little bit of exemption , and they can make a decision instead of hold the head office driving down , tell them what they have to do . It really makes them feel part of the whole flowered team and that they are the floral squad . They still have sure monetary standard they have to keep , and they ca n’t get away from those . There are sure details that are drive from the office , and they have to keep that . But it allows them to beat back engagement on a whole unexampled level .
For illustration , I ’ll be on calls and mention that I ’m looking at something new or that we ’re making some change , and they ’ll be very proactive in the feedback . There really is engagement between myself and the stores , and at the end of the day , that ’s the sort of thing that can create a difference that you could both see and feel in a floral section .
Is that something that happened naturally , or what it a conscious exploit on your part ? How do you defend and manage the system?Before I took on the home desk , I was in Ontario managing a little over 200 stores , and in that time , I had develop many of the political program . Because the programs that I had get here in Ontario had done so well , I was able-bodied to drift them out to the other region , so it was an evolution as well as an active effort .
It allows us to convey in that many more product and experimentation with something new because we can choose a few storage and get their honest feedback . That way , we ’ll be able-bodied to see how it ’s shape for make registration or tramp it out in a bighearted way . And yes , it consume a moment to get all of these piece lined up , but the feedback that we got was very confirming , and the sales were positive , which was great because it cave in everyone that extra flexibility .
I like to keep an eye on the programs and do a review every quarter to see if sealed token are work or not . And if it ’s not forge , then we make adjustments , but if it is , we basically just leave it alone until an update is required .
And I suppose making those updates is a priority , so what does it mean for you to retrieve out and discover those raw things ?
Being in this diligence for so many year has give me the cognition to know what ’s in time of year and what is n’t . Now the challenge is about extending those products that are no longer in time of year . How do we add that into the lineup on a seasonal fundament ? Is it going to work , is it not move to solve , or are our client just focalize on corrupt it at that time ?
One of the with child focal points for our society is a focal point on local before we play in any external supplier . That state , for anything that we ca n’t source or do locally , we have partnerships with growers . One product that come to mind as an instance of something fresh and that we need married person support with is the Ranunculus , which is both beautiful and democratic . The trouble with this plant is that the local supplying for it is extremely limited due to the brusk timeframe that we have to maturate it up here . So , to increase our supply of the Ranunculus , I ’ve met with some farmers in Ecuador that have a much big windowpane to grow the Ranunculus than we have , and we ’re operate out the pricing and logistics for getting their product up here to us .
And those are the exact kind of Fannie Merritt Farmer and flowers that define the Floriexpo exhibit level .
That ’s why shows like Floriexpo are so important to us because it really opens up a whole new venue to make these form of connections . But I also really appreciate being capable to witness all the creativity you’re able to see at the event .
For example , colouring material is what sells in our shop , so when I go to the show , I look at colour combinations in different bouquets . That give me a lot of Modern melodic theme for what we can do . Getting ideas and having conversation with people that are a part of this industriousness provides an incredible benefit .
No matter how many prison term you ’ve been antecedently , you always walk out with something young . That ’s why it ’s crucial to go to these shows with an unresolved mind . Because yes , you ’re going to see some similarity , but when you give the vender even just five instant of your clip , you might get to take something that you would never have otherwise . for certain , they can send you sample in the mail , but it ’s only limited samples , and you do n’t get that material - sentence central . It ’s the best means to learn about and know these production .
Go with the outlook of , " I ’m here to have fun , and I ’m going to give the vendors 5 minutes of my time to see how much I can learn from each of them . " Because you might consider that you know it all , but you do n’t .
The first FloriexpoHonestly , I ’m really looking forward to just seeing everyone again and finding out what ’s changed with the industry , specially on the creative end . Being able to have one - on - one conversations with the great unwashed that we ’ve done business with in the past and seeing what they ’re up to now will be invaluable .
I ’ve get down my whole team fall with me , and we ’re looking forward to bring some of our wholesalers with us this time around to walk the floor with them . That way , we ’ll be able-bodied to point out to them what we need to be able to furnish our store within Canada , and they ’ll be able to give me feedback in veridical - time , and the benefit of that for them , for our stores , and to our customers is invaluable .
For more information : Floriexpofloriexpo.com
