SAN FRANCISCO, CA & ST. LOUIS, MO - Schnuck Markets upgrades its technological capabilities once again as it expands its partnership with Instacart. The tech company’s Carrot Tags’ pick to light functionality is rolling out nationwide at Schnucks.

"We're always striving to give our customers the most reliable online experience, and Carrot Tags' pick to light functionality has helped us ensure our customers receive exactly what they ordered," said Bob Hardester, Chief Information and Supply Chain Officer, Schnuck Markets. "As we continue to digitize our stores, we believe that Carrot Tags is an integral part of our omnichannel approach—especially once they connect to customer-facing technology like Caper Carts. From electronic shelf label software, to smart carts, to an e-commerce platform, Instacart's technologies help us meet our customers, no matter how they choose to shop."

Through Instacart Carrot Tags' pick to light functionality, Schnucks and Instacart help increase order fulfillment accuracy and customer satisfaction. When Schnucks first began using Instacart's Carrot Tags' pick to light functionality in 2023, it quickly saw success across its pilot stores.

According to a press release, Carrot Tags are Instacart's software solution that seamlessly integrates into a retailer's electronic shelf labels (ESL) hardware to enable incremental functionality, including pick to light capabilities. Schnucks will be using Instacart Carrot Tags' pick to light functionality across most of its stores.

"As our first retail partner to introduce Carrot Tags' pick to light functionality chainwide, we're incredibly excited by the telling results of our partnership. Because Schnucks is using pick to light, we're seeing an increase in found rates, which in turn provides higher order quality and customer satisfaction," said David McIntosh, Vice President and General Manager of Connected Stores, Instacart. "Schnucks has long served as a leading-edge partner for Instacart, especially when it comes to adopting our Connected Stores technologies like Caper Carts and Eversight. We look forward to building the future of grocery alongside Schnucks for years to come."

In addition to pick to light, Carrot Tags will also soon connect to Caper Carts, helping customers locate items more easily on the shelf.

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MISSION, TX - The Texas International Produce Association (TIPA) continues to shine a spotlight on TX ag, this time pointing toward the onion sector. The successful 2024 TX1015 sweet onion season was boosted by an online social influencer program, sweepstakes, a restaurant week promotion, a KSAT TV partnership, and more.

“Our marketing activities are created with the purpose of sparking a connection between the product and the consumer,” remarks Dante Galeazzi, President of TIPA. “It is imperative to tell the story of our state vegetable and by enacting a range of well-developed and specifically targeted tactics, we are expanding the sweet onion category one layer at a time.”

Enacting an influencer program was key to reaching Millennials and younger age brackets. The creators included recipe developers, authors, and bloggers who all have a passion for creating meals with local ingredients. The total reactions were 343,165, a press release stated.

Additionally, the Third Annual Restaurant Week returned with 17 food trucks and restaurants who created dishes using the TX1015 sweet onion. A finale event was held at the McAllen Food Truck Park where attendees had the opportunity to taste the sweet creations for themselves. Online promotions for the event and public voting garnered a 2,200.7 percent increase in brand awareness.

The team also released a cookbook titled Sweet Flavors of The Lone Star State, A TX1015 Cookbook, highlighting trending recipes, fun facts, and educational tidbits. Also, for the second year in a row, David Elder, host of Texas Eats, created an on-air segment along with social posts highlighting the TX1015 sweet onion.

“On behalf of the Texas Onion Industry, we are very proud of the accomplishments we saw from this year’s campaign. Texas grows by more than 850 citizens per day, which is a lot of new people to introduce the TX1015 Sweet Onion to. By establishing stronger connections within major Texas and national markets, we continue to increase recognition and consumer preference, putting Texas onions in a great position for next season,“ concludes Galeazzi.

This work was funded, in whole or in part, by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service under the Specialty Crop Block Grant administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

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WENATCHEE, WA - Earlier this year, CMI Orchards partnered with Category Partners to conduct a study to better understand consumer preferences. With the results in, the provider reported that branded apples such as Ambrosia Gold®, EverCrisp®, JUICI®, and Kanzi® outperform their mainstream counterparts in blind taste tests.

“These powerhouse apples are proven winners, delivering superior taste and quality. In every blind comparison, branded apples came out on top,” says Rochelle Bohm, Vice President of Marketing. The study included diverse demographic panelists, and focused on apple purchases, varietal knowledge, motivators for purchase, and preferences in appearance and flavor. Participants compared high-flavor branded varieties to mainstream apples with comparable flavor profiles: Ambrosia Gold vs. Gala, EverCrisp vs. Fuji, JUICI vs. Honeycrisp, and Kanzi vs. Pink Lady®. Our data shows that consumers are not only willing, but eager to trade up to premium apple varieties.”

How can retailers take advantage of this knowledge, especially seeing that consumers consistently reported higher ratings for flavor, texture, and appearance on these branded apples?

“Stocking Ambrosia Gold, EverCrisp, JUICI, and Kanzi meets consumer demand, drives sales, and enhances produce aisles,” Bohm continues. “Spotlighting these premium apples with sampling programs and clear, descriptive signage that showcases their unique flavor profiles—such as CMI’s Flavogram® program—will enhance retail performance and drive trial, leading to repeat sales.”

One of the hurdles to getting the fruit in the basket are the conceptions regarding apple appearance.

“Flavor descriptions and recommendations proved key in guiding overwhelmed consumers to try new varieties,” she explains. “Targeted signage and on-bag messaging steers them toward informed choices, driving shoppers toward high-flavor branded apples that boost incremental sales in the produce department. Our flavor education tool, Flavogram, can be customized to promote specific product trials. For example, custom point-of-sale [signage] that reads, 'Like Gala? You’ll LOVE Ambrosia Gold.'”

For more information, click here.

AndNowUKnow will continue to report on the latest in the apple category, so stay tuned.