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holiday with convenient fresh-cut fruit,” says Brous. “As the melon and cherry season winds down, we turn our focus to new crop apples and fall cooking vegetables. Our Aprons [culinary] team works with our in-house chefs and dietitians to create recipes that are on-trend and easy to prepare. ese recipes are released to coincide with the season.”
’TIS THE SEASON ... FOR PUMPKINS
e pumpkin can be a fall star in produce departments for a season extending from long before Halloween until a little after anksgiving.
“A good way to display pumpkins is with related fall items, such as Indian corn stalks or bales of hay,” says Jennifer Pierce, sales and marketing representative at Bay Baby Produce, Mt. Vernon, WA. “You can also put out a huge variety of di erent types of pump- kins. We have six or seven di erent color varieties. We have a half pallet display with spaces for ve di erent products.”
In 2000, the company developed its signa- ture Pumpkin Patch Pals. e ‘Pals’ are a vibrant crew of individually hand-decorated,
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOPS FRIENDLY MARKETS
painted mini pumpkins with happy, festive character faces and distinctive, feathery hair. Today, Bay Baby Produce grows about 250 acres consisting of miniature pumpkins, pie baking pumpkins and an assortment of orna- mental pumpkins.
“Traditionally, the time to put out
pumpkin displays is right after Labor Day,” says Pierce. “You can keep them out as long as they last, which is 30 to 60 days.”
Dan Schantz Farm in Zionsville, PA, o ers Cutie Pies, which are pumpkins no larger than a softball that are already deco- rated wearing a variety of cloth wizard hats and are ready to party. ey can be displayed with a plethora of stickers or paint kits. ey are shipped in 4-color display cases, with easy-carry handles, and they can be paired with companion pint-sized pumpkin monsters or with painted and shellacked gourds that feature warts.
“ e Halloween holiday is the biggest [for sales],” notes Pierce. “Following Halloween, the No. 1 pumpkins that people need are pie pumpkins,” she says, adding, “You can also display the pumpkins with pie baking items such as the crust, and we sell a pie-baking kit.”
Pumpkins may be the star among fall squash, but they also have many relatives that can attract a crowd if displayed well.
“We have a lot of organic following,” says Pierce. “One hundred percent of our fall squash is organic.” pb
28 / AUGUST 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS