August marks the beginning of Medjool date harvest season and Bard Valley Natural Delights is primed for a successful harvest season this year. To support the brand’s growth, the company has also expanded internally with strategic additions to its sales and marketing staff.
Natural Delights expects ample Medjool date supply from this year’s harvest to meet the year-round business needs, including the ongoing development of innovative snacking lines. Natural Delights sales and volume are also outpacing Medjool date category growth and household penetration of Medjool dates in the U.S. has grown from 8 to 8.4 percent since last year, which equates to roughly 500,000 new households.
Left to right: David Baxter, Neil Merritt
As the brand continues to grow, so does its internal team. Neil Merritt was recently promoted from North American sales director to global director of sales and several new team members were added to the company’s roster this year including:
- Natalia Toccoli as digital marketing manager.
- Bridgette Weber as trade marketing manager.
- Kyle Oliver as product manager.
- Shayna Telesmanic as international sales manager.
- Anggarda Putra as international sales manager.
“As we wrap up our 2021-22 crop year, we are on pace to double the size of our business over the next five years and global sales will play a huge role in achieving that goal,” said Merritt.
“The expansion of our internal marketing team in preparation for the 2022-23 crop year puts us in a position to meet the growing needs of the brand,” added David Baxter, director of marketing. “As we continue to invest in large-scale marketing initiatives to drive sales, we are also better equipped to provide helpful tools and resources to our sales team, retail partners and ultimately the consumer.”
Merritt says as Natural Delights wraps up its 2021-22 crop year, it is on pace to double the size of its business over the next five years.
To celebrate this year’s harvest, Natural Delights is hosting its annual Harvest Tour for retailers, influencers and media this September. As part of the tour, guests will see behind-the-scenes harvesting, sorting and packing of Medjool dates and follow the process from shoot to shelf.
To get quarterly retail and crop updates, sign up for The Regular newsletter here.
For more information:
Neil Merritt
Natural Delights
Tel: +1 (949) 226-9971
neil.merritt@bvdg.com
https://www.naturaldelights.com/