CJ Given, Director of Sales for Taylor Farms<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">For Super Bowl we have done some on-packaging coupons, in-store features and a lot of ads, including trying to get secondary displays built within the stores. Secondary displays are really the key in getting the trays out there where the consumers can see them. We have done some tray contests and retailers have really gone after it, building secondary displays and putting the trays in the forefront of the produce section with results showing sales increases. The trays are outpacing the regular value added items, in the cut-veg category, through the holidays and year after year, seeing increases of 15 percent to 35 percent depending on the format.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Doug Meyer, VP of Sales & Marketing for West Pak Avocado, Inc.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">We have lined up promotions with our customers through the avocado marketing organizations. The promotions involve marketing and merchandizing tactics, such as secondary display bins, POS materials, radio tags, and billboards, consumer contests, and produce manager display contests. Some retailer partners have placed secondary bag avocado displays outside of produce, in areas like tortilla end caps, and themed snack displays. We know that increased display size and having ripened fruit on the shelves will definitely drive sales, especially for a promotion like the Super Bowl. <hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Eduardo Serena, Executive Director for Avocados From Mexico<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Generally, Avocados From Mexico launches an exciting social media recipe contest on Facebook to promote guacamole consumption during the football season. Avocados From Mexico is offering retailers special guacamole themed POS materials and a customized display contest to increase sales. The predictions for the 2011/2012 season, they will ship more than 680,000,000 pounds of avocados into the US, an increase of more than 10 percent when compared to 670,000,000 pounds last year. <hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Greg Kurkjian, VP of Retail Sales for Mann Packing Company, Inc.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">We have one item in particular that does very well during the Super Bowl, that is the meat and cheese tray. It does exceptionally well during the Super Bowl. We actually call the product the Tailgater when we put the appropriate label on it, drawing attention to the event in this case, the Super Bowl. Our first point of distribution is always with the produce department. But it really depends on how the retailer will define the item, especially when you have ingredients such as meat and cheese where the ingredients are sometimes classified as a deli item. On top of that, you have to make sure you can provide some secondary display space so you can avoid out-of-stocks during these high velocity time periods. Within the party trays, the private label sales are flat, Mann's private label items are showing a slight increase. <hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
