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fall merchandising
FALL MERCHANDISING:
PHOTO COURTESY OF BAY BABY PRODUCE
Opportunities For Colorful Solutions
Big displays and the right mix of traditional and unique produce can lift sales.
FBY BOB JOHNSON
rom pumpkins all dressed up to bales of hay serving as a stage for colorful squash varieties, fall brings a season of merchandising opportunities to produce that includes holidays and
much more.
Some of the best merchandising in the fall
involves eye-catching displays of a number of produce items that consumers can pair together in the kitchen.
“As a rule in the Northeast, we switch gears from summer selling to fall harvest,” says Je Cady, director of produce and oral at Tops Friendly Markets, Williamsville, NY. “Cooking veg, pumpkins, hard-shell squash, potatoes, onions, apples and cider all start to ramp up. People go from the grill on the patio to the oven in the kitchen.”
Loren Buurma, treasurer of Buurma Farms in Willard, OH, says the opportuni- ties to sell more produce is only limited by the creativity of retailers.
“ e combinations for cross promotion are endless,” he says.
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CREATING A CORNUCOPIA DISPLAY
When putting together displays, it helps to think about contrast and providing splashes of color to lure in customers, partic- ularly around the holidays.
“Tied in with the right products, anything can look good,” says Cady. “ e brown of the kiwi pops when displayed in the center of a cranberry display or with red or green Anjou pears. e tans, greens and oranges of squash are representative of the fall foliage most of us drive around looking for.”
Callie Whitney, associate marketing manager at Growers Express, Salinas, CA, agrees, saying, “you can merchandise pump- kins and squash as a cornucopia with other fall vegetables. Cranberries, pears and squash
are amenable to good looking displays. ey add nice color.”
Fall means harvest for many produce items, and that makes it a perfect occasion to put out displays that celebrate the abun- dance coming in from the countryside. Some fall favorites lend themselves particularly well to being displayed next to each other.
“Cranberries are a fall staple and lend themselves to cornucopia displays or being shown in rustic wooden crates, further connecting the fruit with the farms from which they are harvested,” says Michelle Hogan, executive director of the Cranberry Marketing Committee, Wareham, MA. “Displaying cranberries in traditional wooden crates is a unique and eye-catching way to