Stemilt's Rushing Rivers Pears Set To Bring Farm To Store This Spring

WENATCHEE, Wash. – In 2014, Stemilt Growers newly introduced Rushing Rivers™ pear brand hit produce department shelves, giving consumers the opportunity to learn where their pears came from. Stemilt is a long-time industry leader in pears and introduced the label to share the unique story of the two locales where its pears originate. Fast forward three years and the Rushing Rivers™ brand has helped retailers find success in selling pears around a story.

“These pears have an exclusive story that helps our consumers better understand their value,” said Stemilt marketing director Roger Pepperl. “Most consumers today are interested in where their food comes from, so sharing that information through the brand and the story of these two locales is optimal. We want retailers and consumers to understand and know the importance of farm to fork.” 

The Wenatchee River and Entiat River valleys are the locales behind Rushing Rivers™ and the places that Stemilt and its pear partners, Peshastin Hi-Up Growers, have been farming for over a century.  Both valleys are surrounded by hillsides of pines trees which help bring in fresh air-draws, the snowmelt helps recharge the rivers each spring ensuring a fresh and pure water source, and the volcanic soil is filled with nutrients giving the trees an extra boost of fuel to thrive during hot summer months. All of these elements create high-quality fruit for consumers to love.

“There are so many attributes that contribute to making Rushing Rivers™ pears extraordinary and sharing that story has resonated with shoppers, and given retailers a platform to sell pears around,” said Pepperl.

The spring season is an ideal time for retailers to do a final push on pears, including d’Anjou, Red d’Anjou, and Bosc varieties. In addition to having great quality and size profiles for bulk Rushing Rivers™ pears, Stemilt also has branded packages available to build additional promotions around, including 5lb. Rushing Rivers™ pouch bags and their award-winning Lil Snappers® kid-sized fruits, which package three pounds of smaller sized pears in a convenient grab-and-go bag that appeals to parents and kids alike.

“Bagged pears work well to boost a shopper’s purchase size, which will drive volume and category sales,” said Pepperl. “They are great for in-and-out promotions, especially during the timeframe before summer fruits arrive.”

Stemilt has a variety of promotional tools available to retailers to help tell the Rushing Rivers™ story to shoppers. From signage, pop-up displays, and branded cartons, to toolkits for social media and a video featuring orchards via drone footage.

“Retailers should take advantage of the great quality of our Rushing Rivers™ pears in order to boost the pear category this spring. Sharing the story of the river valleys gives shoppers a compelling reason to put pears in their shopping carts,” said Pepperl.

For more information on Rushing Rivers™ pears, contact your Stemilt representative.

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About Stemilt

Stemilt Growers is a leading tree fruit growing, packing and shipping company based in Wenatchee, Washington. Owned and operated by the Mathison family, Stemilt is the leading shipper of sweet cherries and one of the nation’s largest suppliers of organic tree fruits. Stemilt has also demonstrated a commitment to sustainable agriculture and social responsibility since 1989, when founder Tom Mathison launched the company’s Responsible Choice program. For more information about Stemilt, visit www.stemilt.com and follow Stemilt on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and You Tube.

Source: Stemilt Growers