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white, stacking them largest on bottom to smallest on top, to create a snowman. At the end of the day, it’s all about how you’d like to utilize your fresh holiday décor (pumpkins and squash) after the season.”
The company offers half- and full-pallet display options, as well as straight bins.
“Ready-to-display options reduce labor, maintain sales and offer opportunity to increase sales,” says Youngquist.
“By offering additional cross-promotional options through pumpkins and squash, retailers can keep their everyday consumers from seeking out competitor options. Cross-promotional options save consumers valuable time by offering one-stop shopping
“By offering additional cross-promotional options through pumpkins and squash, retailers can keep their everyday consumers from seeking out compet- itor options. Cross-pro- motional options save consumers valuable time by offering one-stop shop- ping for grocery and fall home decorating needs.”
— Michele Youngquist, Bay Baby Produce
for grocery and fall home decorating needs.” Pumpkins and squash can be promoted for fall decorating or holiday baking by making fresh pumpkin or squash entrees, purees, soups, roasted seeds and other dishes,
Youngquist says.
For soups, Buurma recommends zucchini
and yellow squash in cross promotions. Corn also sells well for Labor Day promos, he adds. “Timing is critical with corn
promotions to maximize Labor Day sales.” A popular fall recipe Buurma recommends is cowboy caviar — a dipping dish his family makes regularly. Ingredients include black beans, sweet corn, chopped green onions, chopped tomatoes, cilantro and salt. Shoppers can also add favorite items such as jalapenos,
avocados, diced zucchini and yellow squash. “Mix this all together and enjoy it with
Okanagan Specialty Fruits offers retailers some unique recipe ideas to help promote Arctic Apples, such as a Make-Ahead Kale Bread Salad that is perfect for time-crunched consumers during the holidays.
tortilla chips or
as a side dish,” says Buurma.
George Wooten, president of Chadbourn, NC-based Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co., says a good fall promotion time is Columbus Day in the United States (or Canadian Thanksgiving) — both are the same day,
PHOTO COURTESY OF BAY BABY PRODUCE
which is Oct. 8 this year.
Wayne E. Bailey offers bulk sweet pota-
toes along with tray packs and its fingerlings brand “Petitelings.”
“We recommend a recipe for a sweet potato casserole with creamy sweet potatoes, pecans and brown sugar,” says Wooten. “It’s got a good crunch to it.”
Other well-received sweet potato promo- tional options are shrimp and crawfish boils for Labor Day barbecues or tailgating for fall sporting events.
“A shrimp boil can include corn, onions, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes and shrimp,” says Wooten. “You can use
U.S. No. 1 petite potatoes with the skin still on in
these boils.”
He recommends grilling
sweet potatoes after peeling them and cutting them lengthways, half-inch thick, then adding olive oil and sea
salt before eating them. Wooten says the company’s
steamer bag program also does well in fall promotions.
“The 1.5-pound, triple- washed petite sweet potatoes include around four to six potatoes and retail for about $1.99 to $3.29, depending on the location,” he says. “A good promotion for this product also
is two bags for $4.”
Wooten says bagged sweet potatoes cross
promote well with seasoning packages in the meat section to serve with proteins such as fish, chicken and beef. pb
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