WENATCHEE, WA - Roger Pepperl, Stemilt’s Marketing Director, joined AndNowUKnow recently to discuss a brief update on the apple season. Listen to the full interview above, or keep reading for a brief summary of what Roger had to say.

With an earlier crop, retailers need to prepare for a different kind of season this year. Roger suggested a few tips to take advantage of the situation.

First, gala apples, which commanded 32.7% of the apple category, will have to go into bags. Although typically you would see more bulk ads this time of year, there is more bagged material this season. Retailers will also have to look at substitutions for gala apples in the bulk category.

“Here at Stemilt, we’re proposing putting the Pinata as a replacement to gala in the ads,” Roger tells me. “Last year in the bulk category, Pinata showed a 40 percent increase in sales.”

And because bulk items drive the category, Roger also suggested pushing items like Fujis, Grannies, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Braeburn, and Red Delicious.

“Honeycrisp is going to continue to be a real dominating force - it’s going up, limited only by the crop size itself,” Roger continued. “One new item, too, is Pink Lady apple. We see Pink Lady continue to rise. We’re getting higher and higher increases in sales here at Stemilt as our crop gets larger. I think it’s going to be a real winner in the future.”

For more on the apple crop this season, check out our full interview with Roger above.

Stemilt