WENATCHEE, WA – Officials at CMI have announced the first solid estimate for the 2016 cherry crop, and all signs point to an early season start with a consistent volume.
Steve Castleman, Vice President of Sales at CMI, shared in a press release that warm spring temperatures, a strong bloom, and no damage from frost have made an encouragingly early cherry crop. “The crop looks very good and timing at this point is nearly identical to last year,” said Castleman. “We’re telling our retailer partners to anticipate good availability for mid-June through mid- July promotions.”
CMI said that the early season start should be good news for retailers, as strong sales early in the season often translate to maximized cherry performance. According to a CMI-led analysis, the most successful retailers maximize cherry sales opportunities in June and run promotions solidly through mid-July.
“We anticipate that the heaviest volume and peak promotional weeks will fall into a narrow window,” said Castleman. “To maximize sales, retailers will want to move retail promotions earlier, starting in mid- June and running through mid-July.”
Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing for CMI, shared the results of a company analysis which revealed that the cherry sales for top performing retailers deliver an average of 7.5 percent contribution to total produce for the month of June, compared to an industry average of only 4.9 percent contribution.
“Best in class retailers utilize a more aggressive non-promotional pricing strategy than their competitors,” said Lutz. “In June, when the rest of market has cherries priced at over $3.19 per pound, top retailers have already shifted pricing down to under $2.79. This immediately captures consumer attention by pricing cherries much more competitively with other seasonal fruits.”
Lutz also recommended that retailers both push for full distribution as soon as the season begins, and limit the product and package assortment. Lutz says that with too many duplicate but different packages on display “shelf presence is diluted and shoppers resort to sorting on the display to find the best package.”
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