How To Become A Produce Buyer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a produce buyer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Generally, produce buyers manage sourcing strategy, including contract and negotiation decisions, to improve quality and profitability. Their job mostly revolves around market contracts and supply chains.

Most of the produce buyers have a bachelor's degree in agricultural business, marketing, supply chain management, horticulture, or other business-related fields. So if you want to pursue a career as a produce buyer, you will need one too.

Additionally, you are expected to be an expert in raw product quality, market trends, and the science of perishable inventory management.

While all of these job requirements might look complicated, you'll be able to manage sourcing strategy and contracts easily.

ScoreProduce BuyerUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,778

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 6.64%

Black or African American 3.72%

Hispanic or Latino 10.24%

Unknown 3.12%

White 75.51%

Gender

female 22.66%

male 77.34%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a produce buyer

Explore produce buyer education requirements

Most common produce buyer degrees

Bachelor's

68.8 %

Associate

16.4 %

Master's

6.0 %

Start to develop specific produce buyer skills

Skills	Percentages
Purchase Orders	12.41%
Logistics	10.51%
Inventory Control	9.81%
Quality Standards	9.51%
Manage Inventory	7.83%

Complete relevant produce buyer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New produce buyers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a produce buyer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real produce buyer resumes.

Research produce buyer duties and responsibilities

Analyze and manage goals for increasing sales, profit margins, turns, fill rate and manage logistics.
Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
Coordinate with transportation department to ensure efficiency in logistics of transporting employees and products using company vehicles.
Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.

Prepare your produce buyer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your produce buyer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a produce buyer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable produce buyer resume templates

Build a professional produce buyer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your produce buyer resume.