KINGSVILLE, ON - As variety is the very spice of life, Mastronardi Produce is once again bringing its differentiation, ingenuity, and vision to retailers with hot new items to make the register ring. Timed perfectly with PMA Fresh Summit on October 13–15, 2020, Mastronardi Produce is igniting the pepper category in early 2021 with the launch of its exclusive Yowzers!™, a bold red chili pepper that is tipping the SUNSET® scales on heat and explosive flavor.
“For years, the pepper category remained stagnant without much in the way of offerings outside of standard bell peppers and jalapeños,” Peppe Bonfiglio, Vice President of Sales at Mastronardi Produce, expressed. “We saw the need to innovate and heat things up, so we started revolutionizing the category with unique and flavorful products in the hot pepper category.”
On top of the Yowzers! launch, SUNSET is also introducing two new innovations in the sweet pepper category this year: Wild Wonders® mini peppers, a mixed variety pack of six different colors, and seedless One Sweet® peppers. SUNSET’s innovative lineup of sweet pepper offerings has hit the big time with items like Aloha™ striped peppers and Wild Wonders® long sweet peppers driving innovation forward.
Yowzers! joins the lineup of unique and flavorful SUNSET pepper products including Shazam!™ shishito peppers and Kaboom!™ black jalapeños. According to a press release, hot peppers continue to drive double-digit growth with a massive increase in sales for packaged hot peppers, and it is easy to see why the results of the program have proven to be a massive success. Consumers are searching for products that are convenient, safe, and full of flavor, but that are also unique and on-trend.
“Yowzers! have the heat of a traditional jalapeño, but also explodes with sweet flavor,” Chef and SUNSET Culinary Director Roger Mooking stated. “The first few bites are surprisingly sweet, but these chili peppers offer the ultimate flavor experience, taking your taste buds on a ride from sweet to heat in just a few seconds.”
Just to show you the impact of the SUNSET track record and progressive outlook when it comes to inspiring flavor and differentiation, let’s take a look at another hit debut. Upon launching Shazam!, shishito peppers were among the top five fastest-growing categories of produce across restaurants. Consumption of the peppers has more than doubled year over year, with retail sales of Shazam! up nearly 150 percent in the U.S over the last year, the company revealed.
Fixed-weight packaged hot peppers are also seeing significant dollar growth and are up over 60 percent year over year. As Mastronardi Produce shared, the offering demands a nearly 3x price premium versus bulk hot peppers.
As Mastronardi Produce prepares to launch hot new offerings to rival, you can rest assured that this AndNowUKnow buzz is only just the beginning!
