BAKERSFIELD, CA - As June brings warmer weather and more ideas for delicious and nutritious treats to summer spreads and year-round favorites, Atlas Produce is bringing its premium California-grown dates to retailers under the popular Caramel Naturel brand.
The new crop in Coachella, California, looks very nice as President Robert Dobrzanski shares. The weather has been ideal to grow excellent quality fruit and the company is looking forward to growing the category with its retail partners and new customers.
“We are currently setting up our deals for the winter Holiday push,” Robert tells me, adding that sales spike during that time of year. “With all our fruit being jumbo in size and having the best taste in the industry, our volume has been steadily increasing every year and is poised to grow 20 plus percent from last year. Present supply is good as well, and strong enough to get us to the new crop that will start this September. Now is a great time for retailers to take advantage of promotional opportunities and showcasing a specialty item that is growing in both supply and demand.”
When I ask Robert what tips and insights he has for retailers when it comes to promoting the category and taking advantage of holiday sales, he shares that retailers should create destinations for the various date offerings that Caramel Naturel offers, and not just to display them seasonally, but year-round.
“An item like Caramel Naturel dates in your produce department will help drive repeat purchases and differentiate your produce spread,” he says.
Caramel Naturel’s date sales have been on an upward trajectory for the past five years, and the demand for Atlas’ product has seen a double-digit growth for those past five years, as well.
“We see this trend continuing in the future, especially with our new and revamped brand of Fresh Energy™ by Caramel Naturel,” Robert adds.
With household penetration in the U.S. now up to 35 percent, Atlas Produce is on a growth trajectory that is taking dates from niche to the main stream.
