CMI Orchards said Kanzi® apple sales continue to climb, which the company hopes will translate into a successful future in the U.S. market. Both conventional and organic options are now available.
George Harter, Vice President of Marketing for CMI Orchards said both conventional and organic Kanzi® is performing extremely well. “In an increasingly crowded apple category, Kanzi® has cemented its place among the top ten branded apples in the U.S., taking the seventh position in sales dollar performance,” said Harter, referencing the past 52-weeks of Nielsen data ending December 29, 2018. “We are seeing tremendous growth for this unique branded apple and expect to continue to see strong performance as production increases.”
According to Harter, Nielsen data shows organic Ambrosia is the number one selling branded organic apple, performing a staggering 95% higher in sales dollars than the second ranked branded organic apple. “Of the five top selling branded organic apples, CMI carries three: Ambrosia, Kanzi® and Jazz™ Envy apples.” He added that organic Ambrosia had stronger sales performance than the second and third top performers combined.
Harter explained that the apple's growth was evident across the board, particularly for organic. “Over the past year, we’ve experienced accelerated growth in dollars for organic Kanzi® unmatched by any other branded organic apple,” he said. Harter explained that scan data shows an 864 percent growth in dollars for organic Kanzi® from the previous year. “This rapid growth reflects the tremendous investment made by one of CMI’s owner orchards, Columbia Fruit Packers, to transition conventional orchards to organic, in an effort to meet growing consumer demand,” Harter said.
According to Harter, more consumers are reaching for organic apples and CMI’s growers are well prepared for this acceleration in the popularity of organics. “Branded organic apples offer retailers a fourth price point for capturing incremental sales: conventional core, organic core, conventional branded and at the top of the scale—organic branded apples,” he said. “Organic Kanzi® is the winning ticket to bumping up apple category sales.”
According to Harter, organic Kanzi® apples are co-branded in CMI’s Daisy Girl™ Organics program. Daisy Girl™ is an organic apple and pear brand in the U.S. and has been in the market for 15 years.
Robb Myers, Director of Sales for CMI Orchards, added that in addition to strong sales performance, Kanzi® apples are really turning heads in the culinary arena. “They have such a strong sweet/tart balance and flavor and incredible texture that they are really finding their place in the hands of home and professional chefs,” he said. “We think there are some great opportunities for retailers to leverage the flavor intensity of Kanzi® and capture this audience through sales promotions, demos and more and we’d love to work with retailers to help get the apple into their customers’ shopping baskets.”
For more information:
Danelle Huber
CMI Orchards
Ph: +1 (509) 888-7769
danelleh@cmiorchards.com
www.cmiorchards.com