Page 33 - February2019

St. Patrick’s Day is a great theme for creative promotions, according to Lauren Strong, marketing specialist for L&M Companies, headquartered in Raleigh, NC. “Our split promo bin holds cabbage and potatoes or either product
on its own. One side of the bin features
a leprechaun scene, the other side has clover graphics, and the ends display our company’s Irish Colcannon recipe. is is a traditional Irish recipe of mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage that can be found on our website. It’s a more playful bin designed to catch the eye of holiday-focused shoppers and shoppers who have children with them. Hopefully, it will inspire kids to get excited about eating super-healthy cabbage.”
PASSOVER
APRIL 19-APRIL 27
Horseradish is a key and symbolic ingre- dient on the Passover Seder plate.
“We sell horseradish year-round, but the volume de nitely goes up for Passover,” says Dennis Diekemper, operations manager for the Collinsville, IL-based J.R. Kelly Company, the largest supplier of horseradish root in the U.S. “We have green-topped horseradish available only for Passover.”
Diekemper says he starts shipping increased volume of horseradish to whole- salers four to ve weeks prior to Passover so retailers can get product in-store and start promoting two weeks in advance of the reli- gious holiday. As for in-store, he recommends the colder the display the better. Horseradish root is susceptible to drying out. erefore, Diekemper says product with a breathable shrink wrap tends to lessen shrink.
Beyond Passover, Diekemper says fresh
PHOTO COURTESY OF L&M
horseradish root is trending in a variety of recipes. is includes grated into a tomato juice-and-vodka-based Bloody Mary.
EASTER APRIL 21
Easter is a big vegetable holiday for customers at Redner’s Markets, a Reading, PA-chain with 44 markets and 13 quick shoppes in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. “Celery, potatoes and asparagus are common accompaniments to big family meals featuring ham. Asparagus especially. We’ve usually had that on the front-page ad,” says Richard Stiles, the recently retired director of produce and oral who spent 44 years working in the industry and 26 of these at Redner’s.
ere is a huge variety of fresh vegeta- bles available locally and regionally in the spring, says L&M’s Strong. “We o er a full line of Eastern veg, such as squashes, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, eggplant, Chile peppers
and tomatoes. Squash, pepper and cucum- bers are especially very promotable. ere is a strong supply from the Southeast
kicking in at this time.”
Easter is synonymous with local
strawberries at Robert Fresh Market stores. “ e Louisiana strawberry season peaks in March and April,” says Esteve. “It’s a big local deal with exceedingly excellent berries. For example, local farmers typically pack 8 berries to a 1-pound pack. We’ll sell 2000 to 3000 cases in the four days leading up to Easter. Strawberry shortcake is the big holiday dessert, so we’ll tie the berries in with
shortcake in displays in-store.”
Seasonal holiday themes are critically
important for retail sales as they kick-start peak selling periods for berries, according to Jim Roberts, vice president of sales for Naturipe Farms, LLC, based in Naples, FL. “Easter and Mother’s Day kick o peak strawberry promotions and Memorial Day for blueberry promotions. Berries are one of the rst fruit items to have promotable volumes of domestic production and take the lead kicking o the promotional selling opportunities for retailers in the fruit cate- gory.”
With Easter in late April this year, chances of weather disruptions for this holiday are reduced, says Cindy Jewell, vice president of marketing for California Giant Berry Farms, Watsonville, CA. “However, we will have good volume earlier than Easter, so we will be working with our trading partners to promote that before the holiday and gear up for the rst day of spring. We expect to have good supply of all berry types, helping to create a variety of colors in the produce department.”
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