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walnuts dried fruits & nuts Walnuts Can Deliver Crunch, Punch
Snacking, versatility help keep volume strong throughout the year.
hough they don’t often receive a lot of attention by produce managers, walnuts are a small but an important part of pro- duce sales. When supermar-
kets break up their buying teams into separate fruit and vegetable buying staffs, nuts seem to get left in the middle and don’t really receive a strong focus, according to marketers. Proper attention, however, can help increase sales.
In terms of dollar sales, walnuts garner a higher share of sales in the produce depart- ment than in center store. Walnuts are 10.5 percent of nut category sales in produce and 7.6 percent in grocery, according to a Nielsen FreshFacts report of the 52 weeks ending in late January. In volume, walnuts account for 8.3 percent of nut movement for the same period. The nut category represents $1 billion in yearly sales, about 1.5 percent of produce department’s $66 billion in yearly sales.
Though a tiny percentage of produce department sales, walnuts offer produce de- partments versatility and stability. As a year- round product, buyers don’t need to worry about seasonality, says Mike Poindexter, chief executive of Poindexter Nut Co., a Selma, CA, walnut grower and processor.
“Walnuts give you a lot of flexibility when you may have a lull in availability in some other items,” says Poindexter. “When one commodity is out of season, or one item is tailing off and the other isn’t really there yet to replace, you can create some space which walnuts typically fill. They can act as a good buffer and pillars for good produce displays.”
That versatility makes for a delicious ac- cent to a baked good, the perfect crunchy topping on a salad or oatmeal or a healthy snack, says Craig Tokusato, chief marketing officer of Diamond of California, headquar- tered in Sacramento, CA. “As part of the broader nut category, walnuts are benefiting from the growing consumer interest in plant- based foods and category marketing efforts by the California Walnut Board,” he says.
To inspire shoppers, Diamond of California is incorporating meal and snack solution ideas in its merchandising programs. “Consumers are overwhelmed with choices and short on time when they enter the supermarket,” says Toku- sato. “We recommend finding simple meal and snack solution ideas to stand out and catch the attention of shoppers before they move on to the next item on their grocery list,” he says.
To more effectively merchandise walnuts, produce merchandisers must carefully choose a strategic display position in the produce de- partment, explains Chad Hartman, director of marketing of Truly Good Foods, based in Charlotte, NC.
“The best way to take advantage of these healthy foods sale trends is to merchandise walnuts at the front of the produce depart- ments, near the other nuts and salad toppers,” he says. Hartman recommends selling wal- nuts in clear containers or in overwraps. “I see a steady increase in my walnut sales,” he says. “I see a huge spike in sales. Holiday baking has and always will create a big spike in sales.”
Shipper displays, which include marketing verbiage on the sides of the cartons and dis- plays, make for effective merchandising, says Jacob Basecke, vice president of sales and mar- keting for Hammons Products Co., which pro- cesses and ships black walnuts from Stockton, MO. “They showcase the nuts. They call out and grab attention, depending on how much space retailers have in their produce sections.”
CROSS MERCHANDISE FOR SUCCESS
Cross merchandising helps increase con- sumption.“Walnutsarebecomingincreasing- ly important in retail produce departments,” says Don Ladhoff, a retail consultant with the Folsom, CA-based California Walnut Board
BY DOUG OHLEMEIER AND AROLE SINCLAIR
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CONSISTENT MOVERS
Typically, walnut sales are steady through- out the year but during the holiday season, they experience major increases in demand, says Tokusato. As such, the best way to merchandise walnuts is through secondary displays, placing them in different parts of the store to remind consumers of their versatility and the many other occasions that would be even better with the addition of walnuts, he advises.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HAMMONS PRODUCTS
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