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dried fruits & nuts dates
Help Consumers Find Dates With Merchandising, Recipes
Promoting health benefits, expanding availability beyond holidays can be lift for produce.
BY HOWARD RIELL
to encourage sales during that time of year. However, dates have a longer season than just Thanksgiving through Christmas, and imported dates can be marketed year-round.
Educating consumers about the variety of health benefits that dates provide — as well as the many ways they can be used — is a surefire way to fuel increased sales. So is providing recipes and other suggestions on how to use dates in tasty and original ways.
WHAT TO DO WITH DATES
“There are a lot of consumers who don’t really know what to do with dates,” says David Baxter, product marketing manager at Yuma, AZ-based Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers, which markets the Natural Delights brand. “So when promoting dates, educating the consumer on the many ways to use them in recipes is key to getting them to trial the product.”
When it comes to merchandising, Baxter points out, visibility is key. “Dates need to be easy to find for those consumers who are looking for dates, and they need to stand out as a new option for consumers who don’t regularly consume dates.”
Retailers need to keep consumer education in mind as they plan their merchandising and marketing strategy. Baxter says, “the more you
can educate the consumer on the many ways to use dates, the more they will buy.”
In addition, he says, highlighting the health benefits of dates is another key for consumers. Dates are an excellent source of fiber and have lots of potassium, which are both part of a healthy diet. “With a lot of retailers staffing registered dietitians, making sure that they are considering dates in their recommendations will go a long way in getting consumers to add dates to their diet.”
Though dates do not need to be treated differently than dried fruit, there is a distinc- tion in their characteristics, according to Baxter. “Natural Delights dates are actually not a dried fruit; our dates are a fresh fruit. This is one of the common misconceptions about our dates, because of the appearance. But our dates can maintain a long shelf life without being dried because of the natural properties of the fresh fruit.” While they do fine at room temperature, he adds, “refrigerating them will only prolong their lifespan.”
There are a lot of people who eat dates every day, and for various reasons. Some of Bard Valley’s biggest consumers, Baxter notes, are people who “use dates to fuel their active lifestyle and support their healthy eating. But there are also a lot of people who just eat dates as a snack because they are a great
PT
and merchandising dates ef-
HOTO COURTESY OF PURE PALM PRODUCE
he challenges of marketing
fectively in supermarket pro- duce departments are real — but so are the opportunities.
Dates are traditionally most popular during the holidays, and there are many ways
80 / MAY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS