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What does a Produce Clerk do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a Produce Clerk do

Produce clerks are responsible for ensuring that the grocery store's fruits and vegetables are displayed orderly and pleasantly to the customers. They check to produce to guarantee that it is fresh and has no defects. Their tasks include stocking of products, providing services like answering customers' queries, handling food, maintaining equipment, and providing general help to the other store employees in need. They must have relevant experience in stocking grocery stores and handling product presentation and should have concrete knowledge in the rotation and maintenance of the store's produce.

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Produce clerk responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real produce clerk resumes:

  • Train in customer service functions, camera and video monitoring, and POS systems checkout.
  • Work in fast pace environment while providing customer service and creating excellent product detail while maintaining cleanliness of department.
  • Handle and order inventory, as well as utilized FIFO strategies.
  • Operate meat and cheese slicers, oven, cutting tools, scales and other deli equipment.
  • Unload trucks and store all products in designate coolers and storage areas using the FIFO method.
  • Maintain cleanliness of the produce storeroom by routinely cleaning and sanitizing surfaces according to health code regulations.
  • Used to lifting boxes of various weights, RF scanning them in, stowing in bins to be pick for orders.
  • Work daily inventory request, price changes, and signing using Telxon.

Produce clerk skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Produce Clerks are proficient in Product Knowledge, Math, and Sales Floor. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Math skills.

We break down the percentage of Produce Clerks that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Product Knowledge, 11%

    Assist Customers in locating desired merchandise including sharing product knowledge with consumer, helped facilitate daily tasks

  • Math, 10%

    Utilize strong math skills and great awareness to process customer purchases with accuracy, operate store equipment and lift heavy boxes.

  • Sales Floor, 9%

    Maintain a properly rotated sales floor while also demonstrating the ability to successfully merchandise creatively and neatly.

  • Basic Math, 8%

    Worked up to backroom using an electronic wrapper, required to know basic math and inventory numbers used on daily basis.

  • Food Handling, 7%

    Practice safe food handling procedures; inspect, trim, rotate product; maintain stock conditions; operate and clean equipment.

  • Cleanliness, 4%

    Maintained cleanliness of the produce storeroom by routinely cleaning and sanitizing surfaces according to health code regulations.

Common skills that a produce clerk uses to do their job include "product knowledge," "math," and "sales floor." You can find details on the most important produce clerk responsibilities below.

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a produce clerk to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what produce clerks do because "production, planning, and expediting clerks are frequently in contact with suppliers, vendors, and production managers and need to communicate the firm’s scheduling needs effectively." Additionally, a produce clerk resume shows how produce clerks use communication skills: "time management, organizational skills, food handling skills/abilities, deli skills, and communication/people skills, up-selling skills. "

Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform produce clerk duties is detail oriented. Produce clerks responsibilities require that "material and product inspecting clerks check items for defects, some of which are small and difficult to spot." Produce clerks also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assist customers throw freight maintain clean work environment cull and detail produce displays build product displays help wherever needed in store"

Math skills. This is an important skill for produce clerks to perform their duties. For an example of how produce clerk responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "some material recording clerks use math to calculate shipping costs or take measurements." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a produce clerk: "well organized, detail orientated, good with math, love interacting with customers, and strong time management skills. ".

Customer-service skills. A big part of what produce clerks do relies on "customer-service skills." You can see how essential it is to produce clerk responsibilities because "stock clerks sometimes interact with customers in retail stores and may have to get the item the customer is looking for from the storeroom." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical produce clerk tasks: "worked in fast paced environment while providing customer service and creating excellent product detail while maintaining cleanliness of department. "

All produce clerk skills

The three companies that hire the most produce clerks are:

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Compare different produce clerks

Produce clerk vs. Merchandiser

Merchandisers are employees working for a retail company. Merchandisers are mainly responsible for the store's products. They curate products that are in line with the store's branding. Merchandisers create purchase requisitions and, upon receipt of the products, create displays that would attract the customers. They also ensure that the inventory of the store is well-stocked. Merchandisers should be up to date with current market trends. They should also be familiar with what customers need and want. It is important for merchandisers to know their company's branding by heart. Merchandisers should be able to create good relationships with vendors as well so that their store may be chosen for special promotions.

The annual salary of merchandisers is $771 lower than the average salary of produce clerks.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both produce clerk and merchandiser positions are skilled in product knowledge, sales floor, and basic math.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between produce clerks and merchandiser. For instance, produce clerk responsibilities require skills such as "math," "food handling," "cleanliness," and "good communication." Whereas a merchandiser is skilled in "pet," "pallets," "pos," and "work ethic." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Merchandisers earn the highest salaries when working in the education industry, with an average yearly salary of $35,386. On the other hand, produce clerks are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $31,675.The education levels that merchandisers earn slightly differ from produce clerks. In particular, merchandisers are 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a produce clerk. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Produce clerk vs. Sales/stock associate

Sales/stock associates or stock clerks receive shipments or goods to a store and prepare them for marketing. Their job involves checking the accuracy of the shipment, stocking items in the warehouse, and maintaining the store inventory. They are the ones who locate the misplaced stocks or relocate them anywhere. Among their minor duties are shelve arrangement, facility cleanup, and correspondence handling. Also, they help assist the unloading of the shipments to factor, warehouse, or store.

A career as a sales/stock associate brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a produce clerk. In fact, sales/stock associates salary is $1,328 lower than the salary of produce clerks per year.A few skills overlap for produce clerks and sales/stock associates. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "product knowledge," "pallet jack," and "display cases. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real produce clerk resumes. While produce clerk responsibilities can utilize skills like "math," "sales floor," "basic math," and "food handling," sales/stock associates use skills like "kids," "store locations," "store shelves," and "pos."

Sales/stock associates earn similar levels of education than produce clerks in general. They're 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Produce clerk vs. In-stock associate

An In-Stock Associate is responsible for ensuring that the shelves of a retail store or warehouse are stocked with up to standard items and merchandise. They follow a supervising staff or manager's instructions while adhering to the company's policies and regulations, reporting problems should there be any. An In-Stock Associate's tasks will also revolve around loading and unloading shipments or deliveries, monitoring the quality and quantity of items, and operating devices such as scanners and forklifts, communicate and assist customers, and cleaning up stockrooms and shelves.

An average in-stock associate eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of produce clerks. The difference in salaries amounts to in-stock associates earning a $308 higher average salary than produce clerks.Using the responsibilities included on produce clerks and in-stock associates resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "product knowledge," "math," and "basic math.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, produce clerks are more likely to have skills like "sales floor," "customer satisfaction," "product quality," and "food safety." But a in-stock associate is more likely to have skills like "ladders," "pos," "loss prevention," and "good interpersonal."

In-stock associates earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $31,433. Comparatively, produce clerks have the highest earning potential in the retail industry, with an average salary of $31,675.Most in-stock associates achieve a similar degree level compared to produce clerks. For example, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Produce clerk vs. Overnight stocker

An overnight stocker is responsible for monitoring inventories, stocking items, and organizing products on shelves. Overnight stockers' duties also include checking the manufacturing and expiration dates of the products, labeling and validating prices, escalating defective items to the management, and categorizing products for special offers and promotions. An overnight stocker must be detail-oriented and has excellent multi-tasking skills to complete and update the inventory as needed. Overnight stockers should also be strict on following the sanitation procedures to keep the items neat and free of any possible damage.

Overnight stockers tend to earn a lower pay than produce clerks by an average of $1,839 per year.While both produce clerks and overnight stockers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like sales floor, basic math, and display cases, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "product knowledge," "math," "food handling," and "cleanliness" are skills that commonly show up on produce clerk resumes. On the other hand, overnight stockers use skills like pallets, store merchandise, electric pallet jack, and safety procedures on their resumes.The retail industry tends to pay the highest salaries for overnight stockers, with average annual pay of $31,065. Comparatively, the highest produce clerk annual salary comes from the retail industry.The average resume of overnight stockers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to produce clerks. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.

Types of produce clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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