A new survey by the US Food Marketing Institute, a trade organisation, shows that shoppers these days are picking their supermarkets based on the appearance, quality and selection of produce. ``Dierbergs has more variety of vegetables,'' said Ann Brunngraber, a 35-year-old nurse, to explain why she shops there and not at the Schnucks or the Shop N Save near her house here. ``The department looks great, too.''

James Guasto is the produce manager at the Dierbergs Markets Inc. store. Recently, he noticed imported apricots for $2.99 a pound at rival Schnucks and quickly called his buyers. ``Those are brilliant in colour and eye-appealing, and we should have them,'' he said. His department alsostocks 21 varieties of organic vegetables, including spinach, zucchini, romaine lettuce, carrots and cauliflower.

Over the past decade, produce sales at the US supermarkets have surged 41 per cent to $36.62 billion from $25.96 billion, according to the Food Marketing Institute. In the same period, produce sales as a percentage of total store sales have nearly doubled, to an average percentage of 13 per cent.

Supermarkets couldn't be happier. Produce is the department that convenience stores, warehouse clubs and discount stores have the hardest time duplicating.

And next to frozen foods, which have the fattest margins, the produce aisle is the most profitable, in part because consumers care less about the price of tomatoes than the quality.

``The larger your produce department, the more profitable your store will be,'' said Salvatore Baio, vice-president of perishables at Tops Markets Inc., a division of Ahold NV of the Netherlands. Tops is based in Buffalo, New York.

To gain an edge, supermarketsare increasing the number of produce items they offer. The average number has grown from 173 a decade ago to 335, with many stores offering far more than that. Wegmans Food Markets Inc., Rochester, New York, carries 700 to 800 items, including passion fruit, horn melons and fingerling potatoes, says Stephen Gallucci, director of produce operations. ``It's become the focal point of our store.''

Along with the number of items, the sheer size of produce sections is growing. The departments have risen to an average of 5,140 square feet from 4,817 a decade ago. Then there is Dominick's Finer Foods, a Chicago-based chain recently acquired by Sateway Inc. It is building 10,000- square-foot produce departments, doubling the size of its older produce sections. Like many other chains, it is also moving the department to the front of the store as a showcase.

Dierberg's Guasto tries to create a contrasting palette of colours in his department. Recently, a basket of red delicious apples was surrounded by neatlystacked oranges. In the middle of a pile of tomatoes was a basket of zucchini, with a basket of yellow squash inside that. Peaches, plums, nectarines, tangerines and kiwi fruit were next to each other in separate baskets. ``Instead of just one colour, you want to see a sea of colours,'' Guasto said.

There's more to it than colour, though. The tomatoes are on sale; the zucchini and squash are not. By grouping the three, the store hopes to turn the squash and zucchini into impulse buys. ``Instead of selling 10 to 12 cases a week of zucchini, I will sell 16,'' Guasto said, ``Instead of one or two cases of squash, I will sell four.''

As produce grows in importance, so do the produce managers. ``With the labour crunch, there is a shortage of good produce managers,'' said Dick Spezzano, president of a Monrovia, California, consulting firm that specialises in produce. ``Often the independent supermarkets will go to a chain to steal the produce manager, paying them $5,000 to $10,000 more.''On an average, producemanagers earn between $28,000 and $40,000 a year. When not lifting and unloading produce-laden boxes, they must determine how much of each item to order and how to price it.

But their power is limited by the decisions of their buyers. When Guasto wanted some apricots, his buyers told him it would take a few weeks to get them, a delay that gave his competitor an edge.

Guasto, 37 years old, has been a produce-department manager for 16 years, four at Dierbergs. Initially he wanted to be a state trooper, but while attending community college he worked in a produce section and liked it. ``I enjoy the variety of things,'' he said.

Although he lives more than 50 miles from the store, Guasto often stops by on his days off to make sure the banana bin isn't a mess. ``If something is out of line, I will straighten it up real quick," he said.

--(Asian Wall Street Journal)