Regional Produce Manager

Lassen s Natural Foods•Ventura, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Regional Produce Manager oversees produce purchasing and department standards across all Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins locations, including deli produce programs. This role is responsible for sourcing the highest quality organic produce, negotiating vendor pricing and advertising programs, managing retail pricing strategies, and driving sales and profitability within the Produce Department. The Regional Produce Manager ensures that every produce department delivers an exceptional shopping experience through outstanding freshness, presentation, merchandising, and operational execution. This position also plays a key leadership role in developing systems, supporting store teams, building vendor and farmer relationships, and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

Requirements

Oversees produce purchasing and department standards across all Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins locations, including deli produce programs.
Responsible for sourcing the highest quality organic produce.
Negotiating vendor pricing and advertising programs.
Managing retail pricing strategies.
Driving sales and profitability within the Produce Department.
Ensures that every produce department delivers an exceptional shopping experience through outstanding freshness, presentation, merchandising, and operational execution.
Plays a key leadership role in developing systems, supporting store teams, building vendor and farmer relationships, and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Approve new produce items that align with Lassen’s standards, ethics, and company vision.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with local farmers, growers, distributors, and industry partners.
Negotiate wholesale pricing, promotional opportunities, and advertising support with suppliers.
Establish and maintain retail pricing strategies that support company gross margin goals.
Source top-tier, trend-forward, and 100% organic produce offerings.
Coordinate with the Art and Marketing Departments to promote seasonal, local, and featured produce items across social media and advertising channels.
Enter and maintain product information, pricing, and item details within the POS system.
Visit all store locations regularly to conduct produce audits, evaluate freshness and presentation standards, monitor inventory levels, train and support Team members, and execute department resets and merchandising improvements.
Develop and improve operational systems to increase efficiency, profitability, and execution consistency.
Maintain a minimum chainwide produce sales growth target of 10% year-over-year.
Maintain a chainwide produce gross margin target of 34% or higher.
Ensure proper quality control procedures are followed at both distributor and store levels.
Ensure all vendor credits, quality claims, and adjustment requests are properly submitted, tracked, and processed.