WENATCHEE, WA - Brianna Shales and Roger Pepperl are sharing their market knowledge with the industry, releasing another episode of Fruit Tracker’s Fast Facts: The Cast video analysis. In November, the two reported that club varieties are on the rise, while apple dollars and volume are down.

“Now that all the apples have been harvested, we know that this is a shorter national crop compared to last year’s record,” explained Shales, Incoming Marketing Director. “If your volumes are reflective of the crop, you will want adjust retails and promote frequently to keep dollars high. It is crucial that retailers stay strategic with their promotions in the coming weeks and months to continue trending in the right direction. The good news is that the top five selling apples did see some positive movement, including Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Fuji all showing positive dollars and volume over last year.”

According to Shales, retailers will want to build the category by focusing on multi-variety promotions using core, top-selling varieties. She also noted that growers will need to make up for lower production per acre, so retailers should react through strong multi-variety promotions to move volume at key times to build the category.

Varieties to keep an eye out for in regards to promotion are Gala, which Shales explained needs promotional attention to stand out. As the top volume apple in the United States, it needs that regular promotion. According to a press release, Stemilt’s bag programs are great vehicles for core varieties for shoppers who want to get in and out quickly, without sacrificing quality.

“Stemilt offers a variety of bag options including the Farm + Famous paper tote bag program and the Apple Lover 5 lb pouch bag,” Shales noted. “Using these bags as a way to offer bulk sizes will meet the consumer’s pandemic shopping habits.”

Shales went on to explain that while bags can often be viewed as a value item, it is important that retailers match them with higher retails or bigger pack sizes. Packing organics in either of these brand bags also works.

“Packing our Artisan Organics^™ apples in these two packs is another great way to utilize bags in your store,” stated Shales. “Both will move volume and increase basket size as organic shoppers enjoy the no-touch approach to bagged apples.”

The Nielsen retail scan data also shows that club varieties are on the rise, including SweeTango^®. SweeTango made up two percent of apple dollars and volume during the 12-week timeframe and was up 28 percent in dollars compared to last year, with 51 percent more volume.

“SweeTango performed well with a $2.16 average non-promotion price, well above the $1.70 apple average,” remarked Shales. “It’s encouraging to see such a great tasting apple rise in the data during its peak season. It shows it performs at retail during this early fall period when shoppers seek apples out.”

And if retailers are curious about Cosmic Crisp^® apples, Shales has good news!

“While this data doesn’t reflect their first week on the market, the apple is off to a big start and you should base featuring this apple along with other core varieties in a multi-variety ad. This is the best route for overall category health.”

To learn more about where the apple market is, keep reading us here at AndNowUKnow.

Stemilt