With harvest running nearly four weeks later than last year, CMI Orchards has been flooded with consumer inquiries about when new-crop Ambrosia™ apples will be available. The good news: Ambrosia™ harvest is officially underway.
According to George Harter, Vice President of Marketing for CMI Orchards, “Good news is coming for consumers because the company is anticipating a record Ambrosia™ harvest. We’re predicting an increase in Ambrosia™ production of close to 20%. That means more retail promotional opportunities for our customers in the coming year.”
Harter says he is most excited because from initial field reports, color and quality of CMI’s Ambrosia™ crop appear to be outstanding. “The Ambrosia™ crop has all indications of being a vintage year. Color and eating quality are outstanding which we know from experience will drive sales for our retail customers.”
Steve Lutz, Senior Strategist at CMI Orchards, cites Nielsen data showing Ambrosia™ apple sales jumped this past season, elevating Ambrosia™ into the 8th best-selling apple position in the United States. “The Nielsen data this past season showed Ambrosia™ passing McIntosh to become the number 8 overall apple variety in the United States in retail dollars.”
“There is still a lot of room to grow Ambrosia™ sales,” said Lutz. He says the Nielsen data shows Ambrosia™ were sold in over 15,000 supermarkets. “Ambrosia™ is selling great, but retail distribution is only at about 55% nationally. With our 20% jump in Ambrosia™ production this year, there will be more opportunities for retailers that have missed out to grab one of the hottest apples in the category.”
Lutz says the retail data shows that Ambrosia™ has incredibly strong loyalty among shoppers. “Once consumers discover Ambrosia they become loyal repeat buyers at shelf prices well above the category average, driving incremental dollars for retailers. The result is Ambrosia™ delivers a disproportionate share of category dollars relative to its volume.”
Harter adds retailers should expect a big jump in sales of Ambrosia™ pouch bags this year after last season’s crop of jumbo apples. “Last year the Ambrosia™ apples were very large so we just didn’t have many apples in bagging sizes. This year we’ll have the crop to drive sales of Ambrosia™ pouch bags.”
“There are a lot of supermarkets out there that haven’t experienced the sales power of Ambrosia™ pouch bags,” said Harter. “In 2015 our Ambrosia pouch bag was the overall number 1 selling two- pound pouch bag in the U.S and the #2 selling bag of any apple variety or bag size. That’s an incredible sales story. We lost some momentum last season on bag sales with the large fruit, but with a more normal crop retailers will see a big rebound in sales of Ambrosia™ pouch bags.”
About CMI Orchards
CMI Orchards is one of Washington State’s largest growers, shippers and packers of premium quality cherries, apples, pears and organics. Based out of Wenatchee, WA, CMI delivers outstanding fruit across the U.S.A. and exports to over 60 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.cmiorchards.com
Source: CMI Orchards