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side due to versatility,” says Delbert Bland, owner of Bland Farms in Glennville, GA. “Consumers can do many more things with a sweet onion, even eat it raw, so it opens up a lot of different areas where they normally wouldn’t use an onion.”
Marketers recommend offering sweet onions year-round. “Sweet onions are a consumer-preferred onion variety,” says John Shuman, president and chief executive for Shuman Produce in Reidsville, GA. “Shuman Produce offers a year-round sweet onion program of consistent varieties, including Vidalia and Peru, so retailers can build cate- gory consistency and consumer confidence.”
Michael Blume, who is in sales with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Greencastle, PA, agrees on the upsurge of sweet onion popularity and the need for year-round availability. “Keystone handles Vidalias from mid-April to mid-August, Walla Walla Sweets from mid-June through mid-August, and Peru and Mexico sweet onions from early August through late April,” he says.
According to Bob Stafford, manager of the Vidalia Onion Committee in Vidalia, GA, the Vidalia season starts harvest in the middle of April and continues through June. “We store about half our crop so we can sell through Labor Day,” he says.
A crucial aspect of promoting sweet onions is to ensure customers know they’re there. “When it’s Vidalia season, stores should have an attractive sign and put them on ad,” says Bland. “Stores can use Vidalias to actually attract random customers. If you have Vidalia sweet onions and don’t put up a sign letting shoppers know the Vidalias are there, then you’re not going to get the lift in sales.”
Bland notes a few chains they work with do an extremely good job of reaching out via social media. “They use social media posts to attract shopper attention and bring them into the stores,” he says.
Retailers can capitalize on popular vari- eties and marketing support by grower groups through signage and ads highlighting specific names. “Customers ask for Vidalias by name, so we push the name strongly in our ads,” says Stafford.
Gelson’s customers even reach back to the store. “We carry Maui onions and get customer calls on them all the time about how good they are,” says Kneeland.
3. BE ADAPTABLE WITH DISPLAYS
Since onions are one of the top five tonnage SKUs in the store, Kelso of Onions Etc. recommends building a big display.
“Combined colors should be the largest or as large as any display in your store,” he says. “It should be the last SKU they buy, too, so they can match ingredients with the onions needed. For example, if a consumer buys a lot of fruit, they will buy red onions. If they buy potatoes, garlic, squash, they will buy yellow onions. A consumer who buys avocados and cilantro will buy white onions.”
However, seasonal factors should cause some retailers to deviate from typical onion space. “The time of year can make a difference as to space,” says K-VA-T’s Cox. “We need two to three times the space when the first- of-the-season Vidalia onions start.”
Stafford encourages retailers to give more space during Vidalia season. “Our popularity with consumers warrants retail giving some extra promotion during Vidalia season,” he says. “We encourage retailers to have good signage over the bins, advertising Vidalia onions. Our branding means a lot, and retailers should look to capitalize on it.”
Secondary displays and other packaging
options offer additional purchase potential. Shuman recommends both a bulk offering and bag offering. “During Vidalia season, our five-pound bags are by far our most popular bag offering,” he says.
Cox suggests using secondary displays as well as offering tote bags for loose onions for a higher ticket ring. “Bag potatoes, tomatoes and avocados are popular tie-ins,” he says.
Shuman Produce provides an innovative high-graphic secondary display bin. “The small design and colorful graphics make it perfect for featuring our RealSweet brand Vidalia onions in secondary locations in other areas of the store,” says Shuman. “Items such as sausage, beef, chicken and pork are often used in recipes with Vidalia sweet onions. Place our secondary display in the meat department next to any of these items.”
4. DON’T FORGET FRESHNESS
Another crucial component of a good onion display, especially for sweets, is fresh- ness and appearance. “Though sweet onions
nTARGETING KIDS
Looking beyond onion rings to build young consumers.
Though much marketing attention is spent on Millennials these days, onion growers and marketers urge retailers not to overlook the next generation of consumers. “Kids are your future consumers and breadwinners of the family,” says Delbert Bland, owner of Bland Farms in Glennville, GA.
Though onions may not seem to fit well with a child’s palate, Michael Blume, sales with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Greencastle, PA, asserts any produce item is a good idea to promote to kids regardless of what it is. “Put onions on salads or in sandwiches or on burgers,” he says. “The sweet onion has an advan- tage in being introduced to kids because of its taste.”
Teri Gibson, director of marketing and customer relations for Peri & Sons Farms in Yerington, NV, recommends including small amounts of chopped or minced onion, especially very mild or sweet onions, in a family’s everyday meals, without much fanfare. “The sugar content in sweet onions makes them the perfect ‘starter’ onion for kids,” she says. “We recently grilled a couple of Sweet
BBQ Bloomer onions and served them appetizer-style with an array of dipping sauces. The kids at the table ate them up without reservation.”
Onions can be sautéed, sweated, minced, puréed, and added to almost anything without much notice explains René Hardwick, director of public and industry relations for the National Onion Association, based in Greeley, CO. “They enhance the flavor of foods immensely,” she says. “There are ways to get onions into your kids’ diet, including choco- late cake. Onions have natural sugar content that adds to natural flavors. Our Onions USA website has a variety of recipes stores can use.” Online resources present a tremendous tool for retailers to use in reaching parents. “There are some fabulous recipes on Pinterest and all throughout the internet on ways to incorporate onions into your meals,” says Megan Jacobsen, marketing manager for Gills Onions in Oxnard, CA. “The key for children is to be hands on. Involving children in the kitchen is incredibly important in developing healthy eating habits, as well as honing in on their cooking skills,” she says. pb
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