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Sun-Maid brand in a 7-ounce bag. ere are tray and cup-packed gs too.
Even though there’s been more of a shift toward snacking, according to Sasha LoPresti, director of business development and food safety at A.J. Trucco Inc., a Bronx- NY-based importer, distributor and whole- saler of fresh produce, dried fruits and nuts, “ e holidays are still the biggest time for g sales.”
COOKIES, CAKES, JAMS AND CANDIES
Figs have long featured prominently in dried fruit displays in the produce depart- ment for the winter holiday baking season.
“We have a bulk food department in most of our stores that carry dried gs, so we don’t typically carries them in produce,” says Randy Bohaty, produce director for B&R Stores, an 18-location chain based in Lincoln, NE, which operates under the Russ’s Markets, Super Saver, Apple Market and Save Best Foods banners. “However, we do bring them into produce around the Christmas holidays.”
A ‘crown’ or circular-shaped pack of dried gs, typically 9- to 14-ounces in size, is popular for holiday displays.
“We get dried gs from California and Turkey year-round, and we’ll bring in Kala- mata gs from Greece, which are more unique, for the holidays,” says Trucco’s LoPresti.
SELL MORE
It can seem risky to try to turn what customarily was a seasonal product such as dried gs into a year-round seller. To do this, Gelson’s Savidan recommends “committing from all angles: merchandising, product knowledge, samples and retail pricing to help get these in baskets.”
One of the biggest merchandising chal- lenges is that dried frigs are a niche item, representing only about 3% to 4% of dried fruit category sales in the produce depart- ment, according to Valley Fig Growers’ Cain. “Yet, they are an impulse item. erefore, it’s important to get prominent and enough display space so customers will see the product and pick it up. Plus, if the product isn’t there, that’s automatically a missed opportunity for a sale. e advantage is that dried gs have a two-year shelf life or essen- tially zero shrink factor.”
At Gelson’s, “We will typically do dual displays when we want to get aggressive, one in the traditional dried fruit sets and another
larger satellite display. You can nd a dried g display in our stores cross merchandised with fresh gourmet cheeses from October through December,” says Savidan.
In the produce department, “cross merchandise dried gs with bagged salads,” suggests Valley Fig Growers’ Cain. e grower o ers display-ready cases to make it easy to create secondary placements.
Educating shoppers on how to cook with dried gs is important. For example, Valley Fig sponsors James Beard Award-winning chef and author Joanne Weir’s Cooking Con - dence show on public television and also uses social media to share recipes.
TASTING IS BELIEVING
“Many consumers have yet to try a Cali- fornia dried g. When they do, they are surprised and delighted by the unique avor and also excited to learn about the functional bene ts and versatility of gs. As a result, the California g industry is working with several retailers across the country to execute in-store demos. Showcasing gs in simple recipes like g toast (bread, nut butter and gs), g atbread ( atbread, melted fontina, gs and arugula) and g bites (walnuts, blue cheese, ginger and gs) is terri c for demos,” says the California Fig Advisory Board’s Stockli.
Finally, growers often o er an allowance for price promotions.
“Given good display and price, sales of dried gs can increase 300-plus percent,” says Valley Fig Grower’s Cain. pb
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