Think Different

A smaller apple crop opens the door to promotion of lesser-known varieties and pears.

For as long as we can remember, we've been told to eat one a day. So it's no surprise that apples are the nation's best-selling organic fruit, and the second best-selling fruit overall.

Americans love their apples, but what happens when there are fewer of them to go around? As the old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens.

Unusually warm weather in the spring, followed by a blossom-killing frost, impacted this year's apple crop in many eastern states, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin. "We're at 35 percent to 40 percent of our normal crop, or less," says New York Apple Association President Jim Allen.

"Demand is very good, and supplies and inventory are very low, so we haven't been quite as aggressive with retail promotions this year," notes Allen, who heads the nonprofit Fishers-based trade association representing more than 700 of the state's commercial apple growers.

But supermarkets in the Northeast weren't about to let apple season kick off without a little fanfare. "There were many stores that really got behind New York apples and drove home the locally grown and regional message with the apples available to them," Allen says.

What's more, he adds, "There is a trend for the new apple varieties, and they are commanding higher prices because of their limited availability." Honey Crisps, which are often priced at about $3 a pound, are rising stars, and a slew of lesser-known varieties, from Pink Lady to Piñata to Jazz, is also capitalizing on consumers' taste for change.

The good news for retailers and suppliers alike is that it seems that many consumers still want their apples, even when they have to pay a bit more for them.

Change for the Better

Last month, The Fresh Grocer, an independent chain based in Philadelphia, opened its eighth location, the banner's first in New Jersey. The new store, located in New Brunswick, is part of a "wellness plaza," a mixed-use facility designed to improve the well-being of the community. In addition to the 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art supermarket, the plaza also plans to feature a 60,000-square-foot fitness center.

The store, says Produce Supervisor Dave Barto, is also surrounded by hospitals and the Rutgers University campus. As a result, health and wellness is the order of the day.

Barto, who oversees produce for the chain, emphasizes wellness in his product assortment and merchandising even more at this new location, though all of the produce departments are brimming with good-for-you foods. The New Brunswick location offers a full line of health drinks, informative signage that touts the health benefits of various items, and a greater focus on organic and exotic produce.

As the quintessential symbol of health, apples are one of Barto's "biggest drivers" in produce sales. But with this year's lighter supply and higher price point, promoting them hasn't been as easy.

"Really big, bold displays have been difficult this year," admits Barto. "We put a lot of local apples on sale because the freight charges, on top of higher-priced apples from the West, made promoting them difficult."

The store has also gotten creative with mix-and-match promotions and spotlighting lesser-known varieties. "We'll bundle a few items and offer them at two pounds for $3 dollars," says Barto. "The key is to not just promote the regular varieties like Red Delicious or Granny Smith, because there are so many other apples out there."

Barto is also keen on making the most of The Fresh Grocer's weekly ads. "We never run the same apples in our ads two weeks in a row. We rotate, and that attracts more business. Say, we run a Jazz apple. Then people want to know what it is. At first you might think you wasted a line in the ad, but it pays off down the road," notes Barto, who frequently sees customers come back for more after they try a new variety.

Try It, You'll Like it

While some regions were hit hard by spring's unusual weather, Washington state had one of its biggest crops ever, with some 109 million boxes, says Roger Pepperl, marketing manager for Wenatchee, Wash.-based Stemilt.

"Apples are on fire right now," says Pepperl. "We're selling apples at record paces at record prices."

But whether you're working for a supermarket in the East, the West or in between, encouraging customers to try different apple varieties is the only way to grow this category. "Eighty-five percent of apple purchases are people buying one kind of apple," Pepperl says, pointing to loyalty card data.

To change this trend, he recommends merchandising five or six apple SKUs at roughly the same price point at one time. "It's what's going to give you optimum lift. Five apples tends to be the number that causes things to really click," says Pepperl. "When you do a big display with five or six varieties, it allows people to experience something new, and when they trade off and try different things, it creates a much healthier category."

Promoting Pears

"It's a great year to promote pears," asserts Bob Koehler, marketing manager for the nonprofit Pear Bureau Northwest in Milwaukie, Ore. "The movement has been phenomenal, as a lot of retailers realized they were not able to promote apples as they once did, and they were looking for something to take the place of that."

Second, says Koehler, the quality and size of this year's pear crop are notable. The pear crop is up 2 percent or 3 percent above the five-year average, he says, adding that this year's pears are as "clean as I've ever seen them" and a "size that retailers really like."

While this year's modest apple crop has created an opportunity for pears, the Pear Bureau wants its USA Pears on consumers' shopping lists every year. With this in mind, the organization recently completed a survey with The Perishables Group in Chicago that sought to uncover how pears are perceived outside the industry.

As Koehler says, "You can do anything with a pear that you do with an apple," and yet 50 percent of pear sales are an impulse buy. "This makes space allocation and location very important," he adds. "Retailers who created nice pear displays created more interest and got consumers to try other pears like Concorde and Comice."

Another key point that came out of The Perishables Group study, notes Koehler, was that pears are a seasonal item for most consumers. "From September to December, everyone thinks of apples and pears. We want to see them promoted from December through May as well," he says.

Recipe for a Sales Boost

"It's almost like people have forgotten how to cook, or maybe they're just bored with the same old," Barto says about the rise in consumer demand for recipes. "People want to try new things and do things a little differently. We use that in our interaction with customers, and it's a great thing for us."

Koehler couldn't agree more. His group's survey found that 30 percent more people over the last year have changed their cooking style to be more adventurous. They also report using more fruits and vegetables in their meal preparation.

The Pear Bureau recently incorporated QR codes into all of its POS. "Our research found that 70 percent of consumers were more apt to purchase pears if they saw a recipe or creative application," Koehler says.

"There is a trend for the new apple varieties, and they are commanding higher prices because of their limited availability."

—Jim Allen, New York Apple Association

"The key is to not just promote the regular varieties like Red Delicious or Granny Smith, because there are so many other apples out there."

—Dave Barto, The Fresh Grocer