Buyer and Procurement Jobs

Produce buyers have a genuine love of produce. They know their product, and they know the markets. The main responsibility of a produce buyer is to source fresh produce at the best price while maintaining the highest of quality and food safety standards. They meet or exceed cost and delivery goals, and establish long term business relations with customers and suppliers.

A successful buyer must have strong buying and negotiating skills, excellent computer skills, be a great communicator, have a positive attitude, be resilient, and be able to work with diverse personalities.

They also will be able to thrive in a high energy workplace and will possess characteristics of good salesmanship to include a combination of aggressiveness, friendliness and honesty. A produce buyer is often times “the face” of their company with vendors, and therefore should reflect a positive and ethical character at all times.

Some job titles you might see in this career field are: Produce Buyer, Produce Procurement Specialist, Produce Broker and Commodity Director.