Category Buyer - Bakery

Fresh Market Inc.; Fisher Park (NC); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Team member discount up to 40%

Health, Dental, & Vision insurance

401K with match

Job summary

The Fresh Market is seeking a Category Buyer - Bakery to join our Store Support Center. This role focuses on promoting the bakery category to maximize consumer appeal, profitability, and sustainable growth.

You will support development, execution, and financial performance of the assigned category, collaborating across teams and vendors to drive demand planning, procurement, and lifecycle management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 4-7+ years of Category Management or related experience.
• Knowledge of grocery business and systems/processes.
• Experience understanding consumer demand in fast-paced retail environments.
• Strong merchandising, product and marketing skills.
• Demonstrated analytical, negotiating, and problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop SKU-level demand plans by analyzing sales trends, promotions, and vendor agreements.
• Collaborate with distributors to improve service levels and negotiate costs.
• Manage procurement, allocation, and in-store inventory targets by category.
• Ensure cost data accuracy in the database.
• Forecast new items, transitions, and discontinuations with category teams.
• Track sales and build historical data for future launches.

Skills

Grocery industry knowledge

Demand planning

Analytical skills

Negotiation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

MS Office proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Nielsen/IRI

MicroStrategy

Job description

The Fresh Market & You:

Our mission is to make everyday eating extraordinary for our guests. We create a warm, welcoming, memorable experience with exceptional, personal service. We’re looking for a new team member who strives for excellence and brings positive energy, commitment, and a “can‑do” attitude to work every day. We value teamwork and celebrate our successes as a team and will value your contribution!

Added Benefits for choosing The Fresh Market Team:

• Team Member discount up to 40%
• Health, Dental, & Vision insurance available for individual, spouse, partner, and family.
• 401K contribution and match for part-time and full-time team members

• Personal time off and additional time off purchase plans are available
• AND much more!

About the Position:

The Fresh Market currently has an opening for a Category Buyer - Bakery in our Store Support Center (099). The Category Buyer will be responsible for the overall promotion of their category portfolio to maximize consumer appeal and increase the sales and profitability of the business while driving sustainable growth. You will support the department in the creation, development, execution, and financial performance of an assigned category.

What You'll Do:

• Demand planning: Develop SKU‑level demand plans by analyzing sales trends, promotions, vendor agreements, and presentation minimums.
• Vendor collaboration: Work with distributors to improve service levels and negotiate product costs, vendor funds, and non‑resale goods costs.
• Procurement & allocation: Manage product procurement, allocation, and in‑store inventory targets by category.
• Cost accuracy: Ensure cost data accuracy in the database.
• Product lifecycle management: Collaborate with Retail Category Management/Private Label Brands on forecasting new items, transitions, and discontinuations.
• Performance monitoring: Track new product sales and build historical data for future launches.

Qualifications:

At a minimum, you will need:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 4-7+ years of Category Management or related experience.
• Deep knowledge and understanding of the grocery business and systems/processes.
• Experience in understanding consumer demand in the fast-paced retail/grocery environment.
• Ability to develop/maintain strong working relationships with peers and cross-functional teams.
• Possesses strong merchandising, product, and marketing skills.
• Demonstrate strong analytical, negotiating, and problem-solving skills.
• Willing and able to travel for trade shows and store trips.
• Flexible and adaptive to changing priorities.
• Able to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated skills with MS Office applications.
• Project management skills.

Preferred qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience utilizing Nielsen and/or IRI.
• Experience with MicroStrategy.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS: Consistent with applicable laws, TFM will make reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and team members, unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to TFM. This guiding principle applies to all aspects of employment, including hiring and job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer:

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and related medical conditions, national origin, genetic information, uniformed service, veteran status, disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal or state law.

The statements in this job description are provided to describe the general nature and level of work expected in this role. While these statements include the essential functions of the job, they are not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. As we work as a team, there may be times team members are needed to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities based on business needs.

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