WENATCHEE, WA – The cool air of fall is rearing its head just around the corner, and with that comes back-to-school sales and a prime time for merchandising pears. With this in mind, Stemilt Growers is urging retailers find boosted sales with pears by getting a jump start on Rushing Rivers™ ads and supplementing with a Lil Snappers® plan for early September back-to-school timing.

As pear harvest nears for its new crop, Stemilt suggests starting promotions early and promoting often during the fall and winter months. The company expects Northwest pear crop to be down slightly over last year, according to a press release. Stemilt’s harvest will start in early August with its signature Tosca pear, a great specialty pear to start filling shelves with pears early on. 

“Tosca is a Stemilt exclusive variety and available both organically and conventionally,” said Brianna Shales, Communications Manager. “It’s a great variety to kick off the season with and because it comes off the tree during that time that parents are thinking about what to put in kid lunches again, is ideal to carry in our Lil Snappers kid-sized fruit pouch bags.”

Tosca has similar qualities to Bartlett with a more exotic flavor, and also boasts the advantage of coming off the tree ahead of Bartlett. Soon after Tosca, Stemilt will begin harvest of its Bartlett pears. The company recommends that retailers continue to power their pear sales by loading a first round of pear ads with bulk and bagged Bartlett’s the last week of August. This timing will line up with the back-to-school rush in early September, and should also include the red Starkrimson variety pears. 

“The first ad on Bartlett and Starkrimson helps set the tone for the pear category, and it’s important to hit the ground running by promoting great tasting fruit in a big way,” Shales continued.

In order to ripen summer pears for instant sales and increased repeat purchases at the retail level, Stemilt uses its RipeRite™ ready-to-eat program. The company also offers an array of packaging options to help retailers segment the summer varieties of Rushing Rivers pears available. Stemilt noted that bulk promotions on Bartlett and Starkrimson are a must for retailers, while larger 4 lb Rushing Rivers pouch bags are an ideal way to boost the purchase size of pears at the beginning of the season. 

Both conventional and organic Lil Snappers are also key items to carry in early September, with the timing of back-to-school top of mind for retailers. Lil Snappers are easy to merchandise, and according to a Stemilt Fruit Tracker™ study, a proven way to build sales of pears. 

“Lil Snappers make it easy to merchandise your department around the back-to-school theme,” said Shales. “They are offered in the ideal 3 lb size in order to pack one pear in two kid lunches all week long, and ready to merchandise in a DRC. We also have display bins that designed to be placed at check stands to drive that impulse purchase that parents so often make.”  

Stemilt's Fruit Tracker study compared a 3 lb Lil Snappers bag user, a 2 lb bag user, and the U.S. composite that includes all bag pear sizes. Stemilt said that this study found that Lil Snappers 3 lb pears can sell 225% more volume, drive 152% more dollars than 2 lb bags, and 167% more volume than the U.S. composite. 

“In this analysis of Nielsen scan data, we looked at two retailers who were both engaged in their bag programs, but carried different bag sizes. We also compared Lil Snappers to the U.S. composite, and the results overwhelmingly favored Lil Snappers and their 3 lb size as the right package to build both volume and dollar sales of pears,” said Shales.

After getting a robust Lil Snappers pear plan in place, Stemilt said that retailers can further boost sales by utilizing the Rushing Rivers brand–using its two famous locales as a story platform to build pear displays around.

“Rushing Rivers is an opportunity for retailers to share with shoppers the amazing locale that their pears call home. These locales are our family growers have farmed pears for multiple generations, and the reason why Stemilt pears stand out above the rest,” said Shales.

Stemilt grows the majority of its pears in the Wenatchee and Entiat River Valleys, which are mountain rivers surrounded by alpine peaks. Stemilt noted that this region is recognized around the world as one of the best grounds for growing pears.

As fall nears, what’s next for pears? Count on AndNowUKnow for the latest.

Stemilt Growers