Produce buyer vs senior buyer

The differences between produce buyers and senior buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a produce buyer, becoming a senior buyer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior buyer has an average salary of $79,848, which is higher than the $55,778 average annual salary of a produce buyer.

The top three skills for a produce buyer include purchase orders, logistics and inventory control. The most important skills for a senior buyer are supply chain, purchase orders, and MRP.

Produce buyer vs senior buyer overview

	Produce Buyer	Senior Buyer
Yearly salary	$55,778	$79,848
Hourly rate	$26.82	$38.39
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	17,664	27,412
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	47	48
Years of experience	-	6

What does a produce buyer do?

Being a produce buyer requires commercial awareness, confidence, the ability to be a team player, interpersonal, math, and IT skills, as well as the ability to cope with high pressure. This position will demand negotiation and collaboration with produce suppliers in promoting, pricing, and advertising products. You will also be the primary contact between stores and suppliers, and also be responsible for maintaining supply quality through determining the best sources of produce.

What does a senior buyer do?

The job of senior buyers, or also known as purchasing agents, is to meet the material needs of an organization. They are responsible for finding suppliers, arranging the distribution to several retail outlets, and supervising other purchasing agents. They also look for new product streams and establish procurement strategies. Senior buyers typically begin their careers as assistant buyers or junior purchasing agents. Most employers usually prefer those with college degrees in marketing, business, and economics.

Produce buyer vs senior buyer salary

Produce buyers and senior buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Produce Buyer	Senior Buyer
Average salary	$55,778	$79,848
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $77,000	Between $56,000 And $112,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Capgemini
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between produce buyer and senior buyer education

There are a few differences between a produce buyer and a senior buyer in terms of educational background:

	Produce Buyer	Senior Buyer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	University of Pennsylvania

Produce buyer vs senior buyer demographics

Here are the differences between produce buyers' and senior buyers' demographics:

	Produce Buyer	Senior Buyer
Average age	47	48
Gender ratio	Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7%	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 6.6% White, 75.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	15%	7%

Differences between produce buyer and senior buyer duties and responsibilities

Produce buyer example 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.
Track all incoming requests for quote (RFQ) from customers, sales managers, and outside sales representatives.
Review purchase requisitions and engineering specifications to determine which suppliers to RFQ.

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Senior buyer example responsibilities.

Manage assigned commodities by communicating MRP changes and forecasts to minimize excess inventory to achieve optimum inventory levels.
Manage and analyze supplier OTD and keep in constant communication with suppliers to help improve delivery.
Manage ECO process with overseas manufacturing partner.
Lead Made2Manage ERP system development and implementation to improve effectiveness and efficiency of inventory.
Manage invoice reconciliations, RFQ management, system database review and regular inventory reporting.
Manage commodities at establish re-order point levels meeting forecast for production scale-up and revenue goals.

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Produce buyer vs senior buyer skills

Common produce buyer skills

Purchase Orders, 12%
Logistics, 11%
Inventory Control, 10%
Quality Standards, 10%
Manage Inventory, 8%
Product Knowledge, 8%

Common senior buyer skills

Supply Chain, 17%
Purchase Orders, 11%
MRP, 4%
Supplier Performance, 4%
Commodities, 4%
Continuous Improvement, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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