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merchandising review mangos
important to teach everyone to not pay atten- tion to color ... Mangos have the potential to be the Honeycrisp apple of tropical fruits.”
Sickles says some of the most important practices when it comes to selling mangos are:
• Have ripe and firm fruit.
• Teach staff about the varieties.
• Sell as a cut-fruit item, and be sure they
are ripe because you may sell more cut than whole, at a bigger margin.
• Demo ripe, cut mangos.
• Demo how to cut a mango.
• Have recipes available. “Mangos are
excellent with all fruits, but especially trop- icals, citrus and melons.”
• Do not refrigerate until ripe.
• Always have an excess of ripe product on hand. “If too many, then increase sampling.”
• Bigger mangos yield more fruit.
MERCHANDISING
Putting mangos in front of shoppers’ eyes
may not be bright and colorful.” — Michael Napolitano, HLB Specialties
in an attractive way is key.
HLB’s Hartmann De Barros says retailers
would benefit from providing signage, recipe cards, proper labeling of different varieties, and informational signage/flyers with the varietal differences and traits. “Stocking ripe and ready-to-eat product is also key, as consumers don’t want to delay their experi- ence by having to wait several days before being able to eat the fruit.” To overcome shrink issues with ripe product, she recom- mends, “trying fresh-cuts or increasing purchases through sampling.”
The bigger the display and signage, the more attention and ultimately sales will be driven toward mangos. That said, retailers need to understand their store, region and customer base intimately to make this deci- sion, according to Napolitano. “Whatever each specific retailer thinks is an optimal size for their location and average sales, build it a bit bigger to drive increased consumption.”
Cross-merchandising with other tropical fruits such as papaya, dragon fruit, pineapple and others will drive sales in all categories, according to HLB’s management team. “Consider smoothie or other recipe cards, which encourage consumers to mix and match purchases among the tropical fruit category,” suggests Hartmann De Barros.
Consumers tend to buy for appearance, says Napolitano, “so a bright, shiny piece of fruit will draw a consumer in. If the flavor is not there, they will not repeat purchase. This is why sampling and education are key, espe- cially for varieties that may not be bright and colorful.”
Mangos are available year-round, with different varieties being more available at different times of year, says Hartmann De Barros. “Changing signage with the season- ality of varieties is a great way to make consumers aware.”
Vision Import’s Cohen says he views the handling of fruit through the supply change, and ultimately onto the store displays, as the greatest challenge. The solution, he adds, is obvious. “Continue getting educated on best-handling practices. NMB (the National Mango Board) has a lot of resources, so this is a good place to start.”
How best to construct displays varies from store to store and season to season, says Cohen, depending on customer base as well ascountryoforiginandvariety.“Whenbeing promoted, it’s best to be up front with a large display at the entrance of the department and to cross-merchandise whenever possible.”
Color, of course, plays an important role. As Cohen explains, “We in the industry have been trying to educate consumers that although blush color is appealing, they need to know that some varieties are more inherent than others, such as Tommy Atkins for their red blush. But others are more green, and that should not necessarily affect a consumer from buying or not. So educating consumers will continue to be a priority.”
EXTREME FOCUS
There is what Freska’s Hall describes as “this repetitive nature with promotional time- frames and periods, where mangos only seem to get real attention or focus during certain times of the year. But those dates don’t always coincide with when we as an industry may need the pushes, and there can be this discon- nect, which cause challenges.
Freska’s management prefers end caps and bins for mangos. “Especially bins that have mangos or mango designs on them,” says Hall. “Retailers at times tend to shrink them back into baskets or give them a real small space in the produce aisles.”The optimal loca- tion, he adds, is “right in front as you walk into the produce section. It grabs your atten- tion right off the block with a big sign and POS material associated with it.”
Hall says that, overall, the industry continues to see gains in the mango cate- gory throughout the United States. “There, of course, is still a lot of room for improve- ment in certain areas of this country, but mangos have continued to trend higher in consumption every year and are showing steady growth in the produce category of most retailers.”
Mangos still have a way to go to reach the ultimate goal of being the No. 1 item in the produce department, says Hall, “but we are definitely working hard to achieve that goal.” pb
78 / MAY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
“If the flavor is not there, they will not repeat purchase. This is
why sampling and education are key, especially for varieties that