Shawn and Adam work together to stock the shelves and store back-stock at Cash & Carry.

The day started in the early morning, before traffic began, with snow still scattered across the ground. The parking lot was full of customers, loading their vehicles with piles of products. I stepped out of my car and took a long, cold breath bracing myself for the new adventure. This was no normal day in the office for me.

Walking up to the store I could see the trolleys lined up against one side of the building, and empty boxes stacked up on the other. I entered to a busy store but was still greeted by the closest cashier. I searched for Adam and found him sipping on coffee looking over a pallet full of boxes. Adam greeted me with a bright smile and we started the tour. He walked me around the back to a long and wide aisle, where the store kept the back stock of products. On the other side were the recycling and compactor as well as more back stock. Adam continued with the tour and we walked through the aisles that Houston’s stocked.

As we finished the tour we came back to the pallet of boxes. This pallet, as he explained, was referred to as a stack. Adam then briefly explained how our merchandisers work to develop relationships with each of the stores. In this instance Shawn, the merchandiser for this store, has built such a great relationship with the staff that they are willing to place the stacks within the store so he does not have to go back and forth to retrieve product. We proceeded to unpack the stack. Adam made a quick strategy so no time is wasted. Many of the merchandisers know their stores inside and out, which helps them make quick sorting decisions. The trolley was loaded perfectly, almost like Tetris, and we began taking product down aisles. While working on stocking a shelf we were also facing out other products that Houston’s stocks, making the product look presentable and accessible.

Challenger Glass is professionally merchandised by Houston’s at Cash & Carry.

The biggest aisle that we worked was the flavored syrup aisle. This is where I learned that our merchandisers do so much more than stock shelves. They must track the sales of the flavors and order accordingly, but this can be a real challenge. One day you can sell out of a Torani flavor and you will order up, but then it will not sell for a month. Not only can this cause the store to have extra inventory, but also it takes up space for products that are moving consistently. While we were stocking the bottles we had many customers come up and ask about different flavors. While I worked with him, Shawn was approached by a customer that who asked about product availability. It was a great experience to see that he had built such great rapport with these customers. As a trio, we were able to finish the flavored syrup aisle in half the time that would normally take. At this point I was somewhat exhausted, because the Torani and Monin cases are heavy.

Once everything was stocked, we came back to where we met and Adam explained another important step. The packing list, the form that came with the stacks, is looked over to ensure that everything came in and there were no discrepancies. The packing list includes each item ordered as well as the quantity. If something were missing then the merchandiser would have to investigate why it did not ship or where the product was. As Adam read the packing list to me, I checked off items. Luckily we were not any missing items.

The main thing I took away from this experience is that our Merchandisers wear many hats on a daily basis. They go into Cash & Carry representing Houston’s, but while on the floor they are also represent the store they are at. In one day, they fill the role of receiving, customer service, purchasing, sales and inventory control. Next time you are at Cash & Carry and happen to run into a merchandiser, let them know they are doing a fine job.

By Evan Castaneda, Inside Sales Rep

The post An Inside [Sales] Look Into Merchandising appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Cross-training provides benefits to both the employer and the employee.

Houston’s strives to provide growth opportunities for our employees and flexibility to internal departments through a process known as cross-training. The benefits of a cross-training program provide a win-win scenario for both employers and their employees:

Top 5 Employee Benefits

1. Learning new professional, technical, and soft skills makes employees feel more confident in their role and helps them understand their value within the organization. Employees are more confident when they understand how the work they do affects other departments and the organization as a whole.
2. With these newfound skills and versatility comes increased employee satisfaction as they experience less boredom or stagnation and more variety within their daily routines.
3. Through the process of cross-training, employees who wouldn’t normally interact are introduced and have the opportunity to build relationships that help with teamwork and give employees a better understanding of “the bigger picture” as they learn about the roles and responsibilities of other employees.
4. Cross-training is a form of employee recognition that goes a long way in increasing employee morale and motivation because its proof that the company is investing time and resources in teaching employees new skills.
5. Through the development of new skills, confidence, employee relations, and increased motivation, cross-training is a growth opportunity that prepares employees for advancement within the organization.

Top 5 Employer Benefits

1. Organizations that cross-train are better prepared to recover or transition quickly and gracefully in the event of an employee absence or departure as other employees can easily step into abandoned roles.
2. Through the cross-training process teams are able to uncover inefficiencies and refine necessary processes to increase productivity. This is also a chance for organizations to identify inefficient, duplicated processes across multiple departments, and encourage departments to share information. Departments or individuals may become aware of helpful information or tools that they didn’t even know existed.
3. As employees gain an understanding of their coworkers’ roles, they will appreciate each other more which will enhance both teamwork and employee morale.
4. In addition to uncovering hidden employee talents as they are trained in different areas and tasks, organizations will also find it easier to identify which employees are up and coming leaders or motivators.
5. Cross-training can also be viewed as a recruitment and cost savings tool. As employee satisfaction increases through the opportunity to learn new skills that enable them to work in additional or different areas, an organization is more likely to attract and keep good employees. Through employee retention and versatility, organizations save on the costs associated with training new-hires.

Does your organization have a cross-training program in place?

The post Cross Training: A Win-Win Scenario appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Monbana Training!

Monbana is well-known for their chocolate and Houston’s will be selling a few of their featured items. First, we carry four of their gourmet chocolate powders. When it comes to the gourmet chocolate powders, they are much different than drinking a mug of American hot chocolate. These sipping chocolates have a unique flavor in which the chocolate taste comes first, followed by the texture and flavor of the chocolate, and at the end of the sip, you can taste the sugar. This is much different than American hot chocolate because the taste of sugar tends to come first and the chocolate second. The Monbana White Trésor Gourmet chocolate powder, (trésor is a French word meaning “treasure”) is made from 45% cocoa butter whereas the Trésor Gourmet chocolate powder, Suprême European Style chocolate powder and the Organic chocolate powder are made with 32% cocoa. The Suprême European Style chocolate powder is a thicker product meant to be heated in an espresso machine and you should drink it as soon as you finish making it for the best flavor and texture.

We also carry nine of their frappé flavors. These flavors include; vanilla, mocha, yogurt, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, lychee, mango passion fruit, and caramel. Never heard of lychee before? It is a floral flavor perfect for a summer treat. The best part about the frappés is that no matter how long they sit, they do not separate. That’s right! You can drink it for an hour and it will still be together until the last drop. Similar to the gourmet sipping chocolates, the frappé flavor is always forward and the first thing you taste. After that, the body comes and then the sweetness of the frappé is in the back. It is recommended that both the frappés and the gourmet chocolate powders are used with whole milk, but they also work great with a dairy alternative as well.

Interested in how the gourmet chocolate powders and frappés work? Check it out!

Gourmet Chocolate Powders:

Option 1- Steamer: Add 7 fluid ounces of milk and steam it for 5 seconds. Then add one heaping scoop of powder and steam for a maximum of 20 seconds. Voila! You now have a yummy chocolate drink.

Option 2- Chocolate machine preparation: Add 35-170 fluid ounces of milk and heat for 15-45 minutes at 149°. Then add five heaping scoops for every 35 fluid ounces Let the chocolate thicken and then serve the tasty treat!

Frappés:

Place 8 fluid ounces of ice cubes in a cup with 8 fluid ounces of cold milk. Pour the mixture into a blender with two scoops of the frappé mix. Blend the mix to your desired consistency of approximately 20-45 seconds and there you go! A delicious milkshake- like treat.

Want to try some Monbana products? Contact Inside Sales and let us know what you think!

The post Never Underestimate the Power of Chocolate! appeared first on Houston's Blog.