The California stone fruit season is going strong. "Mother Nature has provided us with ideal growing conditions thus far with warm, sunny days and cool 60°F nights," says Kevin Steiner, Director of Business Development at Mountain View Fruit Sales. This has resulted in flavorful and high-color fruit with Brix levels in peaches, nectarines, and plumcots that are somewhat higher compared to last year. High quality drives repeat purchases, resulting in steady demand for conventional stone fruit and strong demand for organic fruit. Once the weather started to warm up after Memorial Day in the Eastern half of the country, movement started to pick up and Mountain View aims to have a steady flow of product available until the late summer/fall.
© Mountain View Fruit Sales
Bump in conventional peach movement
The company grows both conventional and organic stone fruit. Organics are a much smaller percentage of the California stone fruit industry. "Some organic land was even transitioned back to conventional, so the flow of organics during the season isn't quite as consistent as conventional, but high-quality fruit always moves through the system," commented Steiner. Conventional California peaches usually get another bump in movement as the southern peach crop starts to wind down later in July.
Late-season offering
The company's summer stone varieties will wind down around Labor Day and at that time, the transition will be made to later season fruit, which will be packed into the Autumnripe label. "It is an extension of the same commitment and values we focus on for our mid-season stone fruit." The difference is that these varieties mature later than the mid-season fruit and are therefore some of the most flavorful fruit of the season, available into October. "To really call out these later varieties, we've developed a special fall program with a theme box as well as Autumnripe display bins retailers can utilize to still maintain a strong stone fruit presence in the fall months."
Fall peaches and plums
"Retail support for this special program has been superb." It lets the consumer know there is still stone fruit available in the fall, and it helps them understand that these offerings are planted and grown specifically for the fall time. These varieties aren't lingering from the summer. In addition, the fall program supports retailers in gaining extra sales late in the season. Altogether, it helps grow consumption and sales dollars for the stone fruit category. "Just getting one or two extra purchases in the fall from consumers is a win for our industry. Finishing the season with high-flavor fruit will hopefully make consumers excited for the following season."
© Mountain View Fruit Sales
New retail bins with Autumnripe label and organic stone fruit from Mountain View.
New packaging
This year, Mountain View launched new packaging that has an updated, clean look, while still maintaining the colors of the various brands. Red is for the flagship Summeripe brand, blue for the Summertime brand and Autumnripe is for the late-season peaches, nectarines, and plums. On the organic side, an updated refreshed look really calls out organic and features more earthy tones. "Our Director of Marketing, Krista Beckstead, did an excellent job spearheading this project. She also had all our merchandising bins redesigned to coincide with the packaging refresh," Steiner said. The merchandising bins are being used to enhance stone fruit displays, capturing additional impulse purchases.
"We couldn't offer our programs without the dedication that our multi-generation family growers put forth every day to try and provide the best possible experience for our customers and the consumer," Steiner finished. "Our commitment to quality and service starts in the orchards with our growers, and with our owner, Mike Thurlow. This helps set the tone for our team and we strive to provide a high level of service and quality to our partners."
For more information:
Kevin Steiner
Mountain View Fruit Sales
Tel: (+1) 859-992-0003
[email protected]
www.mvfruit.com
