Catania Worldwide's James Rasmussen Details Cinco de Mayo Opportunities
ONTARIO, CANADA - If I were a buyer, fresh produce would be my very best friend when it comes to merchandising. Fruits and vegetables present such a wide variety of flavors, making the produce aisle the perfect destination for promoting food-centric celebrations. With Cinco de Mayo nearly upon us, I was eager to hear what we can expect from Catania Worldwide’s tropical programs.
“Catania is expecting great quality on our tropical items,” said VP of Sales and Marketing James Rasmussen. “April was a pretty high month for pricing on limes, and we suspect that will continue through the Cinco De Mayo pull, especially on larger fruit. There will be promotional volumes on the smaller sizes, which is perfect for this holiday. Avocados will also be promoted heavily with great quality, and the same goes for mangos and figs.”
As James pointed out, demographics are changing rapidly, and the consumer's awareness of Hispanic products is becoming more mainstream, meaning Cinco de Mayo has become a very important holiday at retail.
“Retailers are learning to treat this holiday similarly to the Fourth of July, with large displays of fresh produce for the picnic and party atmosphere,” James told me. “Hispanic cooking is based around fresh, with very little processed ingredients, and this leads to big, full displays in the produce department.”
When building displays, retailers can utilize popular Cinco de Mayo recipes to bring several ingredients into a single location. Fresh guacamole, for instance, creates an opportunity to bring together avocados, limes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, and other various peppers all in one area to entice the consumer to grab and go.
“Salsas, guacamole, and unique drinks will be on many shopper’s menus, so these are some of the most important recipes for retailers to highlight in their displays,” James concluded.
So, what will make your produce department the stand-out destination for shoppers? It may be some fresh fruit from Catania Worldwide, but we’ll have to wait and find out.
