It appears that we will eclipse our Rd 4 Estimate of 25 million boxes – however, it is important to note that our growers have harvested 3/4 of this year's crop and there is ample opportunity for promotions during the month of August. The cherry category remains a key driver for summer produce department profits – and this year August presents a unique opportunity for the trade!
Cherry quality in the box is finishing on a high note as size and pressure are peaking for the season. Displays are key for the fruit to be on the radar of late-season buyers and impulse-purchasers alike! Sales records show that 1 out of 7 cherry buyers don’t make their first purchase until the Northwest late season. Their trigger? A countdown notice – letting them know that the time to squeeze the last bit of summer out of Northwest cherries is upon them.
Research studies have shown on other large-volume crops similar to 2017 that the difference in dollar sales between a top and bottom performing retailer during the last 5 weeks of the season equaled an average of $1.2 million dollars for a 100-store chain. The two most important differences between the top and the bottom? The number of cherry items for sale (think reds AND Rainiers) and the visibility of the category within the retailer’s promotional strategy.
Soon the air will cool and bring Fall and Back-to-School promotions, but for the entire month of August, retailers have an opportunity to boost their sales with the Number One Dollar per Square Foot Item in their produce department.
Though July is nearly over, the Domestic promotions are still going strong. With promotions in place for up to two August circular ads, along with the continuing In-Store Radio ads, demo programs and store-level contests, the Domestic team continues to remind retailers of the importance of maintaining the strong focus on the category for the weeks to come still. Promotional programs were set in place early this Spring to ensure retailers were lined up to begin promoting our crop in time to build early momentum going into the 4th of July and maintain it through our projected late season. Given the increasing size of the crop, additional promotions throughout the country have been added throughout the season where possible. We are going to see outstanding compliance with our retail programs and excellent media pickup from our consumer campaigns.
Domestically cherries have been the number one advertised commodity in produce this July, coming off strong promotions during the second half of June. During the past week cherries were second in advertising space to the entire table grape category – and were advertised in over 20,000 stores domestically. Across the cherry category, average retail pricing dropped by 16% Y.O.Y. for the third week of July.
Independent of crop volume, Domestic Consumer Marketing results will break all records this season, and the tally has only begun. In a situation where growers are facing a challenging market, that in and of itself is not a win. However, with over 7 out of every 10 NW cherry purchases being made on impulse, the more awareness generated for our crop, the better. Using traditional calculation processes, it's estimated that our Food & Lifestyle-angled campaign has generated over 2.26 billion impressions through traditional media alone. That includes newspaper and magazine articles, as well as published videos like this video piece (again) stemming from Saveur's media trip this June. Their Facebook page alone has 528,000 followers, and in the 48 hours since it was posted on 7/25 it's been viewed over 7.5K times.
Programs like our Blogger Outreach are easier to track, as their exact follower & share counts are readily available. To date, fruit shipments to vetted bloggers in our program have generated an additional reach of just under 1 million consumers with incredible recipes and photos to encourage greater cherry consumption. You can view a couple of typical examples here and here.
The lines often blur between a "food" promotion and a "health" promotion, especially given the superfruit status we've bestowed on cherries in the media. However, our "Health" campaign targets more data and nutritionally-focused consumers/media in order to build the awareness of the health benefits of eating cherries. We continue to release articles and have one more left to go this season, but so far have generated over 143 million impressions to date through 1,057 postings in journals and newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle and LA Times. Beyond that, our proactive pitching to digital publications has generated features ranging from Good Housekeeping (circ. 9.4M) to LiveNaturallyMagazine.com (Circ. 13,800). With big crops like this one, every impression of great-tasting, healthy Northwest Cherries matters…
Source: Northwest Cherry Growers
