Duda Farm Fresh Foods' Martin Jefferson and Rick Alcocer Discuss Promotional Volumes and Celery Merchandising Opportunities
SALINAS, CA - Gear up folks, it’s crunch time! It’s not because we’re racing against the clock, but because the warm summer months and back-to-school season offer up the perfect opportunity to collect shopper dollars in the celery category. To get a deeper look at the current market, I got in touch with Duda Farm Fresh Foods’ Northern California Operations Manager, Martin Jefferson, and Senior Vice President of Sales, Rick Alcocer.
“Mother Nature has been very kind to us this season. Weather has been mild with few extreme swings,” Martin divulges to me on this season’s harvest. “In fact, quality has been very good, and we currently have promotional volumes available!”
Duda is currently growing celery in Byron Center, Michigan, and in Salinas, California. With ideal weather conditions in both regions, the supplier has enough volume to help its retail partners ramp up celery sales all season long.
“The warm summer months are a time to enjoy celery in its natural, uncooked state, whether chopped in a potato and tuna salad, smothered with peanut butter or almond butter, dipped in ranch dressing and hummus—or just eaten all by itself!” Rick exclaims. “Stores can cross merchandise celery with any number of dips and spreads, focusing on the fresh, crunchy experience unique to eating celery. It’s a great, healthy summer snack!”
If the warm weather isn’t enough to send every shopper into the produce department in search of that refreshing crunch, the back-to-school season sets retailers up for even more success, as this healthy offering serves as the perfect go-to snack for kids and adults alike.
“With the back-to-school season starting in the fall, celery sticks are a great snack to take to school or back to work. We offer a variety of fresh-cut, pre-washed and packed options that are perfect for a lunchbox or convenient as an after-school snack,” Rick adds.
Duda’s celery offerings also present retailers with the chance to drive repeat purchases. Once shoppers have a taste of these high-quality proprietary varieties, they’re sure to keep adding them to their carts.
“Our celery program is all done in house using our own proprietary seed varieties,” Rick concludes. “Duda Farm Fresh Foods provides the best celery eating experience available—based on flavor, texture, and color—and is grown both conventionally and organically.”
Buyers, bring these alluring celery varieties to your produce department and bask in the register rings that will follow!
