U.S. - Watch out pumpkins, there might be a few new fresh faces representing Halloween in the holidays to come. It seems consumers have been carving into pineapples and watermelons with some fruitful results.
Tampa Bay Times reports that the move can be more cost-effective for consumers (for pineapples especially) and both are an easy vehicle to hallow.
For me, personally, those are some insides I wouldn’t mind munching on while I create a face on the outside of the fruit as well, as opposed to having to wait for seeds to dry and then bake.
When I asked Cesar Pacheco, Sales Manager for Giumarra Companies, about the concept, he commented it would be right up the company’s alley.
“That would be great for us because that’s one of our biggest harvest times of the year,” Cesar shared on the trend becoming a more frequent occurence. “I’m assuming if you do carve a watermelon you would need a big one, and we have a lot of big sizes.”
It seems size would be a benefit, browsing the different options consumers have posted, but Josh Leichter of Dulcinea shared with me that the company has seen success with mini melons as jack-o-lanterns as well.
"It’s definitely something we’ve been involved with in the past, featuring our mini PureHeart® watermelons,” Josh told me when I asked about the trend. “We’ve had some fun promotions tied into it in the past of examples of what you can do with the melons. It’s a fun thing to spur up some interest in the category around the Halloween season.”
Pineapples, on the other hand, present added spookiness with their prickly surface while wearing toothy grins with a candle behind them.
So is this a quirky spike in consumer holiday trends, or the next promotional opportunity for the produce industry? I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
