I am writing a story about a fruit/veg buyer for a big supermarket and I want her to go abroad to meet a producer or sommat. I was thinking of Florida to meet a fruit producer (feeling dim and not even sure if producer is the right term right this minute).

Does anyone have experience of the inner workings of buying foodstuffs for supermarkets, how they work, and whether this would be likely? If so, what would be a likely destination?

TIA,

Deb

You could try just phoning up Sainsburys or Tescos and asking them directly.

Or else if this was me I would call some fruit producers direct. There are loads of small independent orchards in Kent and Worcestershire who might fill you in. And because they are small producers they will be easier to talk to yet knowledgeable.

If they don't have all your answers they'll suggest someone to call.

Or call Brogdale the National Fruit Collection - that is an amazing place where they seek to keep alive old varieties of all sorts of fruit but they will know all about the commercial fruit market.

I would have thought your trail will lead you to Spain for things like oranges, strawberries, blueberries (now), etc. etc.

My uncle had orange groves in Valencia, still has a few but not much money gets made from them any more.

I think they just refer to themselves as 'growers', don't they?

I'd be careful about contacting the supermarkets about their relationships with fruit growers. They might think you're an undercover journalist, as there has been a lot of bad press about how supermarkets treat their suppliers. You might just get a load of old flannel.

Also, how accurate do you have to be for your story to work? It's entirely likely that someone would go to check the quality of the crop etc., wouldn't the rest be on a more personal basis rather than constructed rigidly around how fruit is supplied to the supermarkets?

With respect, this feels a bit like self-censorship advice. I really wouldn't worry about what the supermarkets 'think' you are up to. What are they going to do put you in jail? They are very used to being challenged anyway and we do live in a democracy you have the right to ask questions.

If they don't want to answer questions they won't. And it might give you some deep insight into the job of being a buyer of fruit for these shops. Although you aren't going to use every piece of research in your writing the more you know the more rounded your characters are going to be.

It depends on the depth you want or need to go into but it's worth getting your research straight to give your story an authentic feel.

It's not a case of worrying about what they think but the quality of the information you're going to get from them. And well-rounded characters come from their, well, character, not from knowing their job inside out. Also, the 'authentic feel' would be lost on most readers unless they, too, buy fruit for a supermarket.