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Produce sales associate skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Meegan Feori Ph.D.,

Linda Hajec

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical produce sales associate skills. We ranked the top skills for produce sales associates based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 22.8% of produce sales associate resumes contained food safety as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a produce sales associate needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 produce sales associate skills for your resume and career

1. Food Safety

Here's how produce sales associates use food safety:

Adhered to Food Safety procedures and OSHA, kept items well presented for customer satisfaction, operated power jacks and compound machinery
Understand and adhere to food safety guidelines and procedures, including proper handling of organic produce.

2. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how produce sales associates use product knowledge:

Supported customers by maintaining product knowledge and remaining current on special offers for items sold within the produce department.
Have an emphasis on department and product knowledge, providing information on product features, and knowing related items.

3. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how produce sales associates use customer service:

Utilized store register while providing excellent Customer Service to provide an exceptional customer experience.
Contributed to a team effort of providing remarkable customer service and satisfaction.

4. Food Products

Food products are the types of various food items that are created and processed to be sold as a product. These products are consumed by humans for nourishment and are mostly processed and created in a huge factory. Tinned goods, milk, meat, etc are the most common food products, and they are not limited to any specific kind except tobacco, beers, and alcohol as they are not considered food products.

Here's how produce sales associates use food products:

Produce Ensure highest accuracy during inventory tracking/daily counts of produce while conducting constant quality checks for damaged or outdated food products.
Weighed, packaged and labeled meat and seafood products, following proper dating procedures.

5. Customer Relations

Here's how produce sales associates use customer relations:

Trained new employees on register operations and customer relations in a high pace environment.
Assisted with unloading trucks and stocking merchandise Mastering and executing superior customer relations.

6. Food Handling

Here's how produce sales associates use food handling:

Follow company, state, and federal regulations for proper food handling and complete product and temperature logs.
Practice safe food handling procedures; inspect, trim, rotate product; maintain stock conditions; operate and clean equipment.

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7. Product Displays

Here's how produce sales associates use product displays:

Maintained a high quality of the sales floor and create product displays to increase sales.
Set up, cleaned and organized product displays and removed damaged goods.

8. Merchandise Presentation

Here's how produce sales associates use merchandise presentation:

Maintained merchandise presentation and organization of the Produce Department.
Maintain merchandise presentation by stocking and rotating merchandise.

9. Pallet Jack

Here's how produce sales associates use pallet jack:

Operate baler, pallet jacks, L carts and rocket carts as well as stack merchandise and shrink wrap pallets.
Frequent use of a pallet jack to organize the grocery warehouse or to transport bales and pallets.

10. Back Room

Here's how produce sales associates use back room:

Clean back room work stations at the end of shift, with periodic mass clean of coolers and sales floor racks.
Unload products off pallets onto sales floor and back room storage * maintenance and cleanliness of back room storage area.

11. Fresh Fruit

Here's how produce sales associates use fresh fruit:

Maintained fresh fruit and vegetables, built displays, completed orders and checked deliveries.
Keep fresh fruit and vegetables on the sales floor.

12. Stock Shelves

To "stock shelves" is referred as the process of putting the supplies on the shelves in the store. It is important to stock the shelves timely as empty shelves can cost a business too much.

Here's how produce sales associates use stock shelves:

Assist customers, stock shelves, unloading trucks, culling and claim's, cleaning
Stock Shelves, maintain department, and ensure all food is fresh.

13. Delivery Vehicle

A delivery vehicle is a means of transport used to deliver all kinds of products. Semi-trailers on land are equipped with a variety of trailers, including box trailers, flatbeds, and other modified trailers, whereas railroad trains have similar specialized cars. Merchant ships on the sea come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Cargo is delivered by freight planes.

Here's how produce sales associates use delivery vehicle:

Moved meat and meat products from delivery vehicles to chill lockers or freezer lockers.

14. Safety Standards

Here's how produce sales associates use safety standards:

Maintained clean and sanitized work area Ensured compliance with company regulations and safety standards.
Ensured compliance with company regulations and safety standards.

15. Sanitation Guidelines

Sanitation guidelines refer to the rules and regulations enforced for a clean and sanitary work environment. Strict guidelines are often enforced in kitchens as food preparation requires a clean space to prevent foodborne illness and cross contamination of common allergy concerns. Sanitation guidelines commonly include proper hand washing, regularly cleaning food prep stations and storage areas, and ensuring the kitchen and bathrooms are properly cleaned.

Here's how produce sales associates use sanitation guidelines:

Followed sanitation guidelines to maintain department conditions.
Maintain product safety and sanitation guidelines.

5 Produce Sales Associate resume examples

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What skills help Produce Sales Associates find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What produce sales associate skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Meegan Feori Ph.D.

Associate Professor, San Diego Mesa College

My recommendation is to combine your interests and career goals. For example, if you are an avid rock climber, you could apply for an internship with the North Face or start a retail position at an REI near Red Rock, Nevada, a place known for excellent rock climbing. If relocating for your gap year is not possible, then seek out a local option such as working at the nearby climbing gym. Customers are crucial to the fashion industry, enhancing your customer service skills during your gap year will benefit you. You could apply to be a Stitch Fix stylist, a boutique, or a non-profit resale salesperson. Even customer service jobs outside of the fashion industry will build experiences that will enhance your abilities to design, produce, or sell amazing products. Another option is to pursue an entrepreneurial venture. Dedicating yourself to creating an influential Instagram account, podcast, or YouTube channel could showcase your skills and build your network. Opening a Poshmark, Depop, Teespring, Etsy, or another digital retail store could let you apply your skills. Finally, keep investing in yourself through learning. There are many massive open online courses and community college offerings that could further your career.

What technical skills for a produce sales associate stand out to employers?

Linda Hajec

Assistant Teaching Professor of Accounting, Associate Chair, Student Recruitment, Retention and Outreach, Penn State Behrend

I think the basics are still important - the feedback from employers still says that they want to see excellent skills in Excel - but if we are talking about changes as a result of the pandemic, job candidates that can also show a comfort level with remote meeting software will feel more natural and less awkward going forward. If you are going to meet on Zoom, make sure you know where to find the features on the screen and if you need to, practice with someone who knows you are just needing to mess around with the settings.

The last thing you would want to do is accidentally exit your interview halfway through because you didn't know where the "share screen" button was. Being familiar with other online collaboration software such as Teams or GoogleDocs is important, too. Even companies that are not working 100% remote are finding great use for these kind of sites, even just to house documents such as policy manuals that they want to share with a group of employees. The fact that a group can work together an collaborate asynchronously is a reality that many companies had not faced before, so the employee needs to be prepared to remember to follow up on team projects instead of waiting for a meeting to see where everything stands.

Do you want to know more?

List of produce sales associate skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a produce sales associate resume and required skills for a produce sales associate to have include:

Food Safety
Product Knowledge
Customer Service
Food Products
Customer Relations
Food Handling
Product Displays
Merchandise Presentation
Pallet Jack
Back Room
Fresh Fruit

Stock Shelves
Delivery Vehicle
Safety Standards
Sanitation Guidelines
Expiration Dates
Increase Sales
Stock Merchandise
Customer Assistance
Sales Associates
Fifo
Unload Trucks

Customer Issues
Front End
Customer Complaints
Inventory Control
Groceries
Stock Room
Clean Environment
Inventory Management
Fresh Food
Display Cases

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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