Produce Clerk

La Montanita Co-op; Santa Fe (NM); On-site; USD 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local food cooperative in Santa Fe is looking for a Produce Clerk responsible for customer relations, ensuring cleanliness and safety in the produce department. This role involves processing, packaging, and merchandising produce while providing excellent customer service. The ideal candidate must have strong communication skills, a food safety certification, and the ability to work effectively in a team. Dependability and a professional manner are also important for this position, which offers a dynamic work environment.

Qualifications

• Food safety certification required within 1 month if not currently certified.
• Ability to follow safety and wellness guidelines strictly.
• Excellent multi-tasking skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Maintain cleanliness, safety, and appeal of the produce department.
• Process, package, and merchandise fresh produce products.
• Provide attentive customer service by answering questions and assisting selections.

Skills

Customer service skills

Effective communication skills

Knowledge of basic math

Food safety certification

Interpersonal and conflict resolution skills

Team player

Job description

Description

The Produce Clerk is first and foremost responsible for customer relations and satisfaction. The Produce Clerk is also responsible for ensuring the department maintains its cleanliness, safety and appeal to customers (may also assist other departments in these areas on occasions). Duties include all produce processing (cutting, packaging and merchandising), sanitation, safety, and stocking procedures on all fresh produce products (fruits, wet vegetables, and dry vegetables) while removing expired products from displays. Most importantly, the Produce Clerk will make all customers feel welcomed by acknowledging or greeting each customer and providing genuine, helpful, and respectful customer service.

Some Functions and Responsibilities

• Orders, receives, and merchandises produce products following proper guidelines for merchandising, rotation, sanitation, pricing, mechanizing, and quality standards.
• Consistently replenish products to ensure freshness and visibility.
• Maintains a working knowledge of all produce products as well as non-produce items throughout the store to respond to customers to ensure they get the products they want and need.
• Adequately accepts, orders, receives, prepares, packages, labels, displays, stocks, replenishes floor stock and inventories merchandise.
• Follows department procedures for processing known loss, invoices discrepancies, special orders, and transfers.
• Keeps the department orderly and clean.
• Helps customers make product selections by answering questions and providing information about all produce items.
• Ensures accurate and sanitary product processing, packaging, labeling, dating, and pricing according to department procedures.
• Prioritizes time to ensure that prep work, stocking, cleaning, and customer service are handled efficiently.
• Creates and maintains an environment that enables customers to feel welcome, important, and appreciated by answering questions regarding products sold within the department and throughout the store by providing excellent customer service.
• Assists in inventory counts, storewide cleaning, and other projects as needed.
• Ensures federal, state, local and La Montañita Food Cooperative regulations and standards for product freshness, safety, refrigeration, sanitation and weights and measures are being adhered to and met.
• Maintains presentation and quality standards in the department.
• Maintains and updates as needed ServSafe® certification.

Requirements

Attributes and Qualifications

• Customer service skills (able to complete the full customer service cycle).
• Effective communication skills
• Capable of teaching others positively and constructively.
• Food safety certification. If not currently certified, able to obtain certification within 1 month.
• Knowledge of basic math (counting, addition and subtraction)
• Ability to adhere and follow safety, regulatory and wellness guidelines. Safety Conscious and adhering to required PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is required.
• Good interpersonal and conflict resolution skills.
• Able to act with integrity, ethically, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Able to deal and adapt to changes in the work environment, industry with a calm professional demeanor.
• Dependable, reliable and self-motivated.
• Able to work with a diverse group of people.
• Strong team player, friendly and patient.
• Excellent ability to prioritize and multi-task with attention to detail.
• Professional appearance and manner.