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merchandising review apples
McIntoshes, Galas, Honeycrisps, etc. – and we bring in one or two special varieties a month. We have an enter and exit date.”
“When people are given too many choices, they often don’t make one at all,” says Sage Fruit Company’s Sinks. “ ere should be a limit on the number of apples being merchandised at any given time. However, varieties can also be rotated throughout the year to e ectively give the consumer more options, but not all at once,” says Sinks.
“Once the season starts, I have apples
on sale every week,” says Marc Goldman, produce director for Morton Williams, the Bronx-based chain of 15 stores in the New York Metropolitan area. “I go according to what the customers like. Everybody wants Honeycrisp. I try to promote that as much as possible. I promote an apple every week and rotate it around.”
DISPLAY NOTES
How much display space should retailers apportion to apples?
“ e optimum space is as much as we can get,” says Rainier’s Tudor. “As a grower and packer, it’s our job to be responsible to that retailers and help them carry and allot space to what is making the most dollars.”
According to Sinks, “Most important with regards to merchandising is to allocate appro- priate space by variety, commensurate with its volume movement. In other words, if Honey- crisp is the best-selling by volume, it should have the largest space.”
“We have a lot of space right now,” says Pepperl. “We pretty much have a good 10 percent of a retailer’s space during apple season. ere are so many new products; everyone wants that promotable space. But you have to give it to apples or you’re going to fail as a retailer.”
Mascari of All Fresh GPS says the new varieties “really need an end cap, or a bin, or shipper to draw them out from the other varieties.”
Acording to Fowler, the freshness of the display matters more to him than the size: “When we go to the stores, we certainly like see a good turn. Unfortunately, you’re going to have some shrink. But if you have too many apples that have fallen ... or are damaged, no one buys any apples. You have to keep that turn.”
DESIGN WITH COLOR
To di erentiate varieties, the apple experts recommend maximizing nature’s color palette. At the Morton Williams supermarkets, where space is at a premium, eye appeal is top of mind, says Goldman.
“With most things I do, I like to break the color. I break with Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. But there are only two of those versus 10 or 12 red apples. So, I’ll take oranges or grapefruit and put them in the middle. It makes the color pop more. ere are so many di erent colors in produce. You’ve got to use the color to call attention to the items.”
Fowler agrees. “It’s important to separate apples, so everything doesn’t look like a Gala, Fuji or Honeycrisp. It makes a pretty display,” he says.
Cady is a stickler for color ribboning at the 169 Tops Friendly Markets stores. “If you’re leading one of these displays with a green apple, I’m liable to hit you up-side the head. Use the green ones to separate. I want a color break.”
TEMPT WITH DEMOS
Shoppers unfamiliar with the avor pro les of the multitude of apples may pass
138 / OCTOBER 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS