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SOUTHEAST PEACHES
Taste, logistics advantages help bring profits to retailers. BY DOUG OHLEMEIER
Flavor and accessibility are what differ- entiate peaches grown in the South- east from other U.S. growing regions. From spring through the end of summer, growers in the Southeast are
harvesting and shipping peaches. When the Southeast season begins, peaches become of high importance to retailers who move high volumes of fruit.
Throughout the Southern region — from Florida and Alabama through Georgia and South Carolina to West Virginia — growers produce a tasty piece of fruit that is highly desired by retail buyers. Because of their geographiclocation,Southeastgrowerscan quickly ship peaches to supermarkets servicing a large East Coast population.
At Abingdon, VA-based K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., which operates 131 stores in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky, Southeast peaches account for 40 percent of the chain’s stone fruit volume in June, July and August. “Southeast peaches are a very important part of our stone fruit business,” says Keith Cox, produce category manager. “When you compare Southern peaches to California peaches, for us, 90 percent of our peach volume is Southern peaches. It really gives you a good idea of how important it is to have a Southern peach during those three months.”
Peach production begins in Florida in mid- to late March and shipments run through mid-May, when harvesting in Georgia usually begins. South Carolina, the leading East Coast producer of peaches, generally begins in mid- to late May.
“During that four-month period, from May through August, a time people know is synonymous with good peaches, you, as a retailer, really want to be known as a peach destination,” says Will McGehee, a partner with Genuine Georgia Group, based in Fort Valley, GA. “A Southern peach has an amazing amount of sugar. We promote Georgia but feel like we’re in a larger community in the Southeast. We want to make sure our customers have a good supply of Southeast peaches.”
TASTY FRUIT FOR WINTER BLUES
The Southeast fruit brings a taste of spring and summer to winter-weary North- east shoppers. “When customers see these peaches coming in, they get excited, as it’s a prelude to our Jersey peaches and the first signs of summer,” says Sal Selletto, produce manager at the Super Foodtown of Sea Girt, NJ, a part of the Middletown, NJ-based Food Circus/Foodtown. “By that time, shoppers are kind of sick of the winter fruits and want to
transition to the summer fruit. We put them up front, on center stage.”
Southeast peaches have been growing in reputation because of improving taste, according to Lake City, SC-based W. Lee Flowers & Co., Inc., a wholesale grocery provider and an operator of a chain of 65 IGA stores from North Carolina to Georgia. Last year, peaches jumped to the chain’s top three categories, joining the ranks of bananas and strawberries, says Mychael Thomas, director of produce. “Peaches are important because they’re local for us in the South,” he says. “We are proud to move as many as we have in the past.Wetrytopushourlocalproductassoon as it comes in season. That gives our customers and guests the taste they want. Being closer to home, peaches generate sales for us.”
Southeast peaches are known for their flavor. “A fresh, sweet Georgia peach is the most flavorful peach you can eat,” says Julie McPeake, chief communications officer for the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA). “That’s no accident. A lot of things have perfectly come together to give our peaches their one-of- a-kind legendary flavor. Our hot summer nights and high humidity allow our peaches to produce sugar all day and night. Most other growing regions cool down at night, and the peaches take a break from producing sugar. This
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