---
title: "Institute Feature: Beans and Pods"
description: Optimize a key part of your produce department with the Retail Learning Institute's course on beans and pods.
image: https://www.iga.com/hubfs/Newsletters/_archive/IGA%20Minute/2024/102424/beans%20and%20pods%201200.jpg
---
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1 min read
# Institute Feature: Beans and Pods
Written by [Josie Balistreri](https://www.iga.com/insights/author/josie-balistreri)
Oct 18, 2024
As part of many seasonal traditions, beans are at their best from [mid-summer to early fall](https://www.thespruceeats.com/fall-fruits-and-vegetables-2217704). Take advantage of this sales opportunity by ensuring your produce department is stocked with fresh products, ready to be added to any shopper’s cart. With insights and instructions, the Retail Learning Institute’s course on [Beans and Pods](https://igaecs.docebosaas.com/rli/learn/course/200/play;state=%5Bobject%20Object%5D;lp=1617;autoplay=0) will help your associates identify and sell the best products.
*Course description: The legume, pea or bean family is a large and economically important family that is the third-largest land plant family in terms of species, with over 19,400. It contains a number of important food plants, including soybeans, beans and peas. The only pod in this course not belonging to this family is okra. This course contains the information needed to keep them looking good from arrival until they go out the door in a customer's cart.*
From beans to okra, sugar snap to snow peas, this course begins by identifying different types of beans and pods, then provides instructions for storage and handling, and finally suggests guidelines for troubleshooting.
In this course, you and your associates will learn about the colorful history of beans before exploring the specific products that shoppers want. Next, ten different beans are identified, with information about how the beans should look, how they taste, and how they are picked.
Additionally, the course covers the USDA standard grades that are applied to beans. These grades help clarify the difference between beans, pea pods, lima beans, and okra, and create a consistent set of measurable attributes, including color, texture, shape, age, and damage.
This course emphasizes why produce associates should prioritize beans and pods—they are popular with consumers, but they also face competition from canned and frozen options. As beans and pods require specific care to optimize their quality, safety, and profits, the course explains several guidelines for handling, displaying, and troubleshooting. These easy-to-follow suggestions will help produce departments keep their beans looking fresh, enabling them to appeal to customers.
Seize this seasonal market opportunity with the support of the Retail Learning Institute by taking its Beans and Pods course.
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