Pear Bureau Northwest Picks Publix as Top Retailer

The Portland, Ore.-based Pear Bureau Northwest named Publix as its 2014 Pear Retailer of the Year for its outstanding pear merchandising activities that resulted in substantial increases in pear sales and volume over the past year.

“It is an honor to be the recipient of this award, and we look forward to continued growth and success in the pear category in the future," noted Garry Bergstrom, business development director of produce and floral for Publix.

“Offering shoppers two green pears simultaneously, Bartlett and Anjou, was one of the top tactics that Publix introduced over the past year to see their pear sales really soar," explained Kevin D. Moffitt, Pear Bureau Northwest president/CEO. “Recent research that we conducted shows that retailers that carry these two varieties at the same time results in a 7 percent sales increase over stores that offer only one green pear.”

Moffitt also noted that Publix implements other pear merchandising best practices, such as offering ripe pears on display, maintaining large multi-variety pear displays positioned at the front of the produce department and utilizing secondary displays to increase visibility for this high-impulse purchase fruit. In addition, the Lakeland, Fla.-based chain offers bagged pears to attract savvy shoppers. “Publix has shown how good pear merchandising increases sales, and in their case that meant substantial increases in pear sales over the past year,” said Moffitt.

Past Pear Retailer of the Year honorees included Demoulas Market Basket (2011), Meijer (2012) and Ingles (2013). The Pear Bureau’s team of regional marketing managers selects the annual recipient based on sales performance, creativity in pear merchandising, and overall excellence in supporting the pear category.