WENATCHEE, WA – Most retailers have noticed that holiday consumers tend to snatch up the biggest fruit on supermarket shelves. But, CMI noted recently, many retailers may not know that the sales opportunity on jumbo apples is significantly larger than they may think, extending beyond the holiday season into Valentine’s Day.
“The data shows that supermarkets featuring jumbo apples over-perform in both dollars and volume for the segment and the entire category,” said Steve Lutz, Vice President Marketing for CMI Orchards, in a press release.
Lutz’s analysis of national supermarket scan data shows big apples drive big dollars for supermarkets that seize this opportunity, offering a unique incremental sales boost. The evidence, CMI said, seems to suggest that shoppers purchase with a specific number of pieces of fruit in mind, usually based on the number of members in a family.
“Supermarkets selling jumbo apples drive success two ways,” said Lutz. “Jumbo fruit just looks impressive on display. It captures the attention of shoppers bringing new consumers into the category and it drives dollars because only two or three pieces of large fruit will generate a significant transaction at check out. It stands to reason that the bigger the fruit, the higher that ring will be at the register.”
Despite the potential for sales, most supermarkets appear not to be fully leveraging the opportunity. Lutz said Nielsen data revealed that less than 20 percent of retail supermarkets carried jumbo apples last year during December and January.
“The conventional wisdom is big fruit only fits a narrow window during the holidays,” said Lutz. “It’s true that December is a great month for selling jumbo apples, but what many retailers miss is that January is even stronger than December and is actually the strongest month of the entire year for jumbo apple sales. A lot of retailers are leaving dollars on the table by failing to sell jumbo apples, or if they do, failing to continue to push the items into late January. Featuring jumbo fruit is a great way to differentiate an apple display—yet many supermarkets never put the items on the shelf.”
Steve Castleman, Senior Vice President of Sales for CMI Orchards, said that fruit size in Washington State is significantly larger than normal this year, and retailers can capitalize on the abundance of jumbo apples.
“There are a lot of years when Washington State simply doesn’t have an abundance of large-sized fruit to support retail partners,” said Castleman. “Regardless of variety, this is the year for retailers to grab this special opportunity.”
Lutz added, “On December 1, we’ll start the eight-week peak season for jumbo apples. Don’t miss it.”
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