CMI Orchards announced this week that the new crop of Envy apples are now available. With the Envy crop running three weeks later than last year, CMI Orchards tells that interest has been very high.
According to George Harter, CMI Vice President of Marketing, a big increase in Envy production combined with a strong year last season has retailers attempting to get Envy back in stores.
“Envy ranked #11 last year in total apple sales while generating year-over-year dollar growth of nearly 30%, higher than all varieties ranked in the top 10,” said Harter. “Ever since the supplies of Envy ran out, retailers have been anxious to get this apple back in front of their customers.”
Harter says one key to Envy's success appears to be strong shopper loyalty. “We know from field reports that Envy gets high marks from retailers for driving repeat sales. Nielsen data shows that Envy sales per store jumped by over 20% this year, quantifying that Envy™ is a very strong repeat purchase apple.”
Steve Lutz, Senior Strategist for CMI Orchards, says a big increase in Envy production this year should keep retailers happy. “At CMI our estimates indicate a jump of over 50% in Envy production this season. That translates to having Envy available to cover more stores longer into the season.”
Lutz added that the retail pricing of Envy is translating into strong sales for supermarkets. “Envy carried the 2nd highest retail price (behind only Honeycrisp) of any variety in the top 30.”
Harter says CMI expects strong results for retailers thanks to the larger crop. “Last year supermarket distribution of Envy was just under 39%. With our big production jump, combined with production increases from Rainier and Oppy, we’re hoping to see Envy distribution exceed 50% for the first time this season.”
Harter added that last year tight supplies limited most retailers to selling Envy for only a few months. This year he expects Envy to have much broader distribution with supplies stretching much longer into 2018 right through the beginning of the New Zealand import season next summer.
For more information:
Linda McFarland
CMI Orchards
Tel: +1 509 888 3418