Driving organic apple sales is getting easier for retailers thanks to a huge increase in organic apple production in Washington State. Following a short harvest in 2015, new crop organic apple production rebounded this year presenting supermarkets with an historic opportunity to increase organic sales.
CMI Orchards, one of the largest organic apple and pear producers in Washington State, reports their organic apple and pear production is up by 60% over last season. According to Steve Lutz, CMI’s Vice President of Marketing, the big jump in organic apple production has retail customers selling organics at a record pace.
“The rebound from a short crop last year combined with new orchards achieving certification, increased CMI’s overall organic volume by 60%,” said Lutz. “This has really opened the door for supermarkets to aggressively merchandise, promote and sell organic apples and pears.”
Lutz says one of the key opportunities for supermarkets is to “build basket size” by transitioning conventional apple buyers up to organic apples. Nationally, organic apples carry an average price of $2.33 lb. versus a price of $1.63 for conventional apples, a premium of .70 cents per pound for organics.
Lutz believes a key factor in building organic sales in supermarkets is in leveraging natural “entry points” for shoppers. “We know from the success of our top selling Daisy Girl OrganicsTM brand, that when consumers make the shift from conventional to organic, they first look for the common organic version of the apple variety they currently buy. Retailers can best leverage the organic opportunity by initially focusing sales programs on the widely popular core varieties, like Gala and Red Delicious.”
“National scan data shows that organic Red Delicious have the lowest retail price point of all major organic apple varieties, even lower than conventional pricing for many niche apples,” said Lutz. “Sharp retailers are using organic Red Delicious and Gala apples to create low-price entry points to entice potential organic shoppers. This has the added benefit of building organic sales for the retailer, while reinforcing a value message with consumers.”
Loren Foss, CMI Orchards’ Daisy Girl Organics account manager, says from a packaging standpoint, two-pound pouch bags are a huge hit with consumers, a trend, he says, that shows no signs of slowing. “Two pound pouches are completely changing organic apple and pear merchandising,” said Foss. “National scan data shows that two pound pouch bags are the fastest growing segment of the organic apple and pear business. It’s just a superior package for selling organics.”
Foss says the Daisy Girl OrganicsTM suite, now includes 19 different apple and pear varieties, creating a turnkey opportunity for retailers to implement a full organic pouch bag lineup.
Foss says CMI expects a big year for Daisy Girl OrganicsTM. “Daisy Girl has the #1 selling branded two pound pouch bag for organic Red Delicious, Gala, Honeycrisp, Fuji, KIKU®, Kanzi®, and RosaLynn apples, as well as Anjou, Bosc, Bartlett and Red Pears,” he said. “With CMI’s big jump in organic production, we expect to deliver record sales for our retail customers.”
For more information:
Katharine Grove
Tel: 509-888-3427 or 509-885-0444