Job Description:
Are you passionate about the retail grocery market and fresh, natural, and organic products?
Are you a leader?
Are you ready to join one of the fastest growing companies in the retail grocery market?
If so, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is the place for you!
Our unique business model, fast paced and growing environment, promote from within culture, and excellent benefits make Fresh Thyme the best employer in the grocery market. Careers have been blooming at Fresh Thyme since our inception in 2012 - yours should be no different!
The Produce Buyer will be based at our distribution warehouse in Downers Grove, IL and be responsible for the procurement & management of assigned commodities.
Compensation/Salary:
DOE
Requirements:
- Minimum of 5+ years of produce procurement experience.
- Previous experience in a natural foods industry is a plus.
- Financial, mathematical, statistical and consumer research experience preferred.
Responsibilities & Duties:
- Negotiates and collaborates with suppliers on pricing, product assortment, promotions, ads, services, promotional calendars, and support; acts as primary contact with direct suppliers.
- Continually identify and determine optimum source of supply to ensure best cost and quality.
- Seek out all local items available in all markets where we currently have stores and any new markets we will be entering.
- Communicate all new items to ensure we have the optimum assortment.
- Manage inventory, shrink, & service levels to meet or exceed company expectations.
- Frequently inspect and assess all incoming goods to ensure that the quality & sizing is within Fresh Thyme specs.
- Daily warehouse walks to determine condition of all products in order to ensure that stores are receiving the right quality & sizing that is expected.
- Manage purchase decisions and order fulfillment with a daily goal to achieve a 100% fill rate.
- Seek & communicate all opportunity & spot buys.
- Monitor and report items/categories/business trends in the industry & maintain awareness of market trends, technology, & weather across all categories & growing regions.
- Responsible for gathering food safety and organic certification documents from suppliers.
- Participating in and or facilitating vendor business reviews.
- Maintain awareness of Fresh Thyme’s marketing strategies and competitor’s activities & pricing.
- Manage USDA inspection process when necessary.
- Manage & review current suppliers’ performances and work diligently with them to improve.
- Continuously seek out new vendor partners.
- Attends key vendor company planning meetings & industry events.
- Conducts post promotional analysis to track sales to ensure proper projections for future promotions.
- Maintains and reviews price files and competitive price checks to ensure we have costs that allow us to be priced competitively within each market we operate.
- Visits Fresh Thyme stores as necessary to observe merchandising plans and inspect quality in coolers and sales floor.
- Other duties as assigned.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent produce industry experience is a plus.
Qualifications:
- Must maintain the highest level of customer service at all times.
- Ability to adapt to the ever-changing high volume retail while working in a cross-functional team environment.
- Must have the capacity to take initiative for making appropriate decisions and have strong analytical and problem solving skills.
- Must have advanced attention to detail with the capability to prioritize and meet deadlines.
- Excellent written communication and documentation skills.
- Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills for maintaining effective business relationships with peers, senior management, customers, and vendors.
- Must have advanced knowledge with MS Office including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
- Ability to multitask and have excellent organizational skills is essential.
- Ability to work varied hours/days as business dictates.
- Must be familiar with Health Department guidelines and regulations as they pertain to a grocery retail environment.
- Understanding of USDA inspection guidelines. Certification a plus.
- Familiarity with Category Business Planning with an understanding of marketing and merchandising practices.
- Possesses the ability to read and interpret profit and loss statements and understand how the categories managed are affected.
- Has excellent people skills for training and communicating with customers and stores; requires a high level of patience.
