The New York Apple Association today announced the winners in their annual display contest for apples and Marzetti products in military commissaries.
This year’s winners are (click for a high resolution photo of their winning display):
- Dyess Air Force Base – Texas
- Lackland Air Force Base – Texas
- Corpus Christi Naval Air Station – Texas
- Peterson Air Force Base – Colorado
- Fort Riley Army Base – Kansas
- Holloman Air Force Base – New Mexico
“Each year this contest keeps getting bigger and better,” said David McClurg, vice president of marketing for the New York Apple Association and the contest organizer.
“This year, so many of the entrants put in a huge amount of effort and creativity and we hope in the end that they had fun,” McClurg added.
Bridget Bennett, director of produce operations for DeCA said, "Every year this contest generates a lot of interest and creativity from our stores. The prize package allows the winning produce managers to go to the largest produce show in the country, where they see new, innovative techniques for displaying produce."
On the entry form we asked for comparison sales numbers during the contest compared to last year. Here are a few notable comments:
- “Our sales increased 76%”.
- “We sold 139 cases of apples last year and during the promotion we sold 296”.
- “Our sales went from $2,091 last year to $4556 this year”.
- “In 2010 we had $4,370 in apple sales; in 2011 we did $6,526”.
- “We went from 59 cases and $1,495 last year to 101 cases and $3,510 this year”.
- “Last year sales were $11,939; this year during the contest we did $18,738”.
There were 81 entries from 24 states, plus one from Washington D.C. This is a record number of entries in the twelfth year history of the contest.
The contest was open to all continental US military commissaries and ran from January 17 to February 28. Entries featured displays of New York apples and Marzetti Caramel Apple Dip and Apple Crisp.
Displays had to be up for two weeks, and could include apple varieties such as McIntosh, Empire, Red Delicious, Gala, Jonagold, Crispin, Rome, Cortland and other New York varieties in either bulk and/or bags.
The winner’s prize is an all inclusive entry to the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) show in Atlanta in October. Round trip airfare and three nights stay at an official PMA hotel is included.
This year each commissary competed with other like sized stores based on their sales ranking provided by DeCA. Six winners were chosen – two from each of three store categories.
The entries were judged by a panel of nine apple, advertising and retail industry experts. They were scored on nine different categories.
An important aspect of this successful promotion is the Bisek Company. Bisek is the national broker for Marzetti products. The company has field staff in each commissary market to help coordinate displays and perform apple sampling events with Marzetti products.
New York State had a very good apple crop this past fall in excess of 30.1 million bushels. The contest comes at a good time of year when New York needs to keep the crop moving out of storage. This effort also allows us to reach new customers in the south and west in the country.
Source: The New York Apple Association
