Poised to begin the second half of their marketing season, SweeTango® apple growers across North America are advising retailers to stock up to meet continued strong demand from the variety’s fans.
A coordinated strategy of aggressive retail push and consumer pull drove SweeTango sales into the top-three managed apple varieties early in the apple season per Nielsen scan data, reports Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative (NBT). The cooperative’s SweeTango sales desks coast to coast report consumers are still looking for the apple well after the New Year--and the cooperative has more fruit coming to meet that demand.
“There has been ferocious consumer demand for SweeTango all season long,” says Austin Fowler with NBT sales desk Fowler Farms in Wolcott, NY. “We’ve had double-digit growth with retailers who’ve kept this apple in stock.”
Retailers have noticed SweeTango’s marketing efforts, says Fowler. “In many markets, the buyer or the buyer’s office has reached out with an ‘OMG!’,” he said.
John Cushing with NBT sales desk New York Apple Sales, Glenmont, NY, concurred the brand is having a successful year. “We adopted a strategy this season that was well received. A lot of retailers added us this year that hadn’t carried us in a strong way,” he said.
The SweeTango cooperative is moving to backstop remaining domestic SweeTango supplies. Fowler reports great quality first-pick fruit is just coming out of storage in the Eastern US region with imports from the brand’s Southern Hemisphere partners. All US SweeTango sales desks plan to be able to supply bulk and bagged fruit into the early summer.
“There has been excellent consumer engagement this year and momentum has been very strong,” said Dennis MacPherson with Next Big Thing sales desk Scotian Gold, Coldbrook, NS, Canada. “There is great momentum to ride right into Southern Hemisphere fruit. Early indications are that the fruit is excellent.”
“Our [Southern Hemisphere] partners report they’ve got the nicest crop they’ve ever produced,” said Scott Swindeman with NBT sales desk Applewood Fresh Growers, Sparta, MI. “Their size profile is perfect. We look forward to taking care of good retail customers who have taken care of us and getting fruit to our big SweeTango fans.”
Brianna Shales with Next Big Thing sales desk Stemilt Growers, Wenatchee, WA, says that every SweeTango apple, wherever it’s grown, is backed by the brand’s high-quality standards. “SweeTango is one of the best club apples out there. It is exciting for us to bring it back for the second half of the season,” said Shales.
For more information:
Julia Stewart
Tel: +1 (703) 727-8808
[email protected]
https://sweetango.com/
