Through July 5th, the Northwest cherry industry has shipped 15,076,797 boxes (20-pound equivalent), including 13.97 million boxes of dark sweets. Contributing to that was a June that finished even larger than predictions, with a total of 12.3 million boxes. That’s a 3% increase over last year’s new record of 11.9 million boxes.
Cherries were everywhere for the 4th of July. And with more retail ads breaking nationally this week, momentum out of the holiday appears to be maintained. In fact, this July 5th saw more shipments than ever before, topping 2012’s record of 523,000 by another 50,000 boxes. The 7-day shipment average through the 4th holiday (6/28-7/4) was the second highest on record at 452k boxes, with only 2009’s ultra-compressed season seeing more boxes per day at 505,652.
Total Rainier shipments are just below 1.47 million 15-pound boxes. Rainier shipments per day have decreased from a daily high this season of over 95,000 boxes to a weekly average ending on the 5th of 17,000 per day. However, beautiful cherries remain in some orchards and shipments of yellow cherries will continue to trickle out to displays worldwide.
A study performed by the Nielsen Perishables Group in 2014 found the biggest factor behind a late-season purchase decision by a consumer was, in fact, the awareness that it was the "late season" for cherries… Put another way, roughly 1 out of 3 cherry buyers don't make their first purchase until they realize it's their LAST CHANCE TO BUY CHERRIES FOR THE SEASON. Top retailers each season use that to their advantage, and communicate the late season opportunity by communicating that at the shelf level. Participants in the North American in-store radio program will be hearing the switch from trivia & Holiday related ads to Buy Now, Freeze Now messaging to support multiple-unit sales. For those with an NWCG Promotional Ad Program in place, promotions are available for circular-inclusion of similar messaging.
Media should be peaking this week, as many NWCG year-round efforts aim at building sweet cherry attention in July. Overall, health promotions lead the way, but articles over the holiday weekend such as this one in the New York Times show the media's slow adoptance of our encouragement to experiment with sweet cherries in entrées and protein-applications as well. Aside from the nutritional and flavor benefits, the shift also encourages consumers to think about how they can work this American superfood into their diets more often. Although, with tempting indulgence-based recipes like this one in the Boston Globe and this spot by Celebrity Host/Chef Curtis Stone discussing his new menu (which includes cherries in every dish), we're sure that cherries won't lose their place as a sweet summer treat.
Source: Northwest Cherry Growers
