ST. PAUL, MN: Kanzi® apples are known around the world for their juicy, flavor-intense crunch. What better way to celebrate the intense flavor of Kanzi® apples than to sponsor an athlete in one of the world’s most intense action sports, Red Bull Crashed Ice. The event is an adrenaline-filled race down an ice track at speeds up to 50 mph as competitors navigate jumps, drops, and steep banks.
Kanzi® apples partnered with a Minneapolis area retailer to give shoppers a chance to win a VIP experience to the St. Paul, MN, Red Bull Crashed Ice event on January 19th and 20th, 2018. The result? One of the most successful promotions they have ever had in their produce department.
The retailer reported an astonishing 1,471% increase in Kanzi® bulk sales, along with an 875% increase and 299% increase in Kanzi® 2-pound pouch bag sales in both conventional and CMI Orchard’s Daisy Girl Organics™, respectively.
“Kanzi® apples have always performed well in our stores, but the results from this promotion really blew us away,” said Paul Leslie, Manager of Produce, based in Vadnais Heights, MN. “The energy in our stores was awesome. The efforts by our entire produce team not only created impressive displays for our customers, but those same displays drove huge sales.”
“Kanzi® is officially on the map here in Minnesota,” said Paul Lerom, Buyer for H. Brooks & Company, a key produce supplier to Minnesota retailers. “Minneapolis has for many years been the top Braeburn market in the United States. We think the Twin Cities have discovered a new favorite apple.”
“The cross of the sweetness of Gala and the tang of Braeburn gives Kanzi® the perfect balance of sweet and tart,” said George Harter, Vice President of Marketing for CMI Orchards. “Allowing consumers to taste this great apple during in-store promotions, along with the absolutely phenomenal displays created by the highly creative produce managers, made this promotion a home run.”
Kanzi® sponsored athlete, Matt Johnson, had the opportunity to talk to consumers during the promotion. “I’ve always been a Honeycrisp fan. I mean, the apple was born here in Minnesota, just like me,” said Johnson. “The moment I tried Kanzi® I knew I had a new favorite.”
Johnson will be wearing his Kanzi® jersey in all of the Red Bull Crashed Ice events from now until the 2017/18 World Championships, which ends the Crashed Ice season on March 9th and 10th, in Edmonton, Canada. “I’ve had so many of my fellow athletes compliment me on my jersey and having Kanzi® in our prep room, available to all of the athletes in St. Paul, was so cool.”
The Kanzi® program has many eye-catching tools to educate consumers and celebrate the unique qualities of the apple such as innovative two and five-box shipper displays and retail point of sale materials. “We have the tools to help retailers get the word out that Kanzi® apples are something special,” said Harter. “One of Europe’s favorite apples, the popularity of Kanzi® is exploding in the U.S. Retailers can work with us to build promotions that capture Kanzi® sales.”
Learn about where Kanzi® apples are grown
Kanzi® brand apples come from select growers in strategic regions across the United States. One of the owners of CMI Orchards (Columbia Fruit Packers) was granted the exclusive opportunity to develop the North American market for Kanzi® brand apples. CMI Orchards grows Kanzi® in Washington State and has partnered with Applewood Orchards, Inc. in Michigan to provide retailers with a regional program for Kanzi® brand apples grown in Michigan. Kanzi® is a registered trademark of GKE-NV.
Source: CMI Orchards
