Stemilt’s category management program, Fruit Tracker, released a new Stemilt-O-Graphic for apples that highlights the latest set of retail scan data from Nielsen Fresh Facts®. Stemilt’s apple category analysis shows Gala apples down 1.6% in volume in January 2016, while Pink Lady® brand apples were on the rise, up 0.6% from 2015 at 4.1% of the total apple category. The data looks at the total U.S. on an average from 12/27/15 to 1/30/16 and compares it to the same five week period the year prior.
“Gala continues to be the leading apple variety in the category, but was down 1.6% in volume sales from last year. Red Delicious was flat and Fuji and Granny Smith were each up 1% from last year. Honeycrisp rounded out the top 5 apples at 8.7% of the category, down nearly 2% from 2015,” said Stemilt marketing director, Roger Pepperl.
Pink Lady was not the only trademarked apple variety to shine in January. Opal® apples were retailing for 7.8% more than last year and Pacific Rose® more than doubled the volume it sold in 2015. Stemilt’s signature apple variety, Piñata®, was heavily promoted nationally in January and moved more volume than the same time in 2015 as a result.
Retail prices on apples continued to rise in January, with bulk apples selling for $0.05 more than they did the month prior (December 2015). Smaller fruit size has led to an increase in the percentage of apples sold in bags. Bulk apples made up 60.9% of category volume in January 2016, while bags made up 39.1%.
“With tight supplies on bulk apples this year and most varieties down in size, bags provide a nice promotion vehicle. Retailers can build on the momentum of trademarked apples like Pink Lady® and Piñata® with springtime promotions on 3lb. Lil Snappers® or 5lb. pouch bags. This drives up the purchase size and helps boost volume sales to the category,” said Pepperl.
For more information:
Brianna Shales
Stemilt Growers
+1 509 662 9667
