The New York Apple Association today announced the winners in their annual display contest for apples and Marzetti products in military commissaries.
The contest was open to all continental US military commissaries and ran from January 23 to February 28. Entries featured displays of New York apples and Marzetti Caramel Apple Dip and Apple Crisp.
Displays had to be up for two weeks, and could include apple varieties such as McIntosh, Empire, Red Delicious, Gala, Jonagold, Crispin, Rome, Cortland and other New York varieties in either bulk and/or bags.
The winner's prize is an all inclusive entry to the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) show in Orlando, FL October 15 to 18. Airfare and three nights stay at an official PMA hotel is included.
This year each commissary competed with other like sized stores based on their sales ranking provided by DeCA. Six winners were chosen – two from each of three store categories.
There were 66 entries from 24 states, plus one from Puerto Rico and one from Washington D.C. This is the second highest number of entries in the eleven year history of the contest.
Once again the qualities of entries were excellent. The entries were judged by a panel of nine apple, advertising and retail industry experts. They were scored on nine different categories.
Bridget Bennett, director of produce operations for DeCA said "This contest generated a lot of interest and creativity from our stores".
An important aspect of this successful promotion is the Bisek Company. Bisek is the national broker for Marzetti products. The company has field staff in each commissary market to help coordinate displays and perform apple sampling events with Marzetti products.
On the entry form we asked for comparison sales numbers during the contest compared to last year. Here are a few notable comments:
· "Our sales increased 41%" · "We had a sales increase of $1,750 over the same two weeks last year" · "Sales increased 86.7% for bulk apples and 152% for bagged apples" · "Overall our sales increased 55% for both bagged and bulk apples" · One of our winners told us their sales increased $5,369 over last year. · "We had a 29% increase during the promotion period" · Another of our winners said sales increased 60%
New York State had a very good apple crop this past fall in excess of 31 million bushels. The contest comes at a good time of year when New York needs to keep the crop moving out of storage. This effort also allows us to reach new customers out west and south in the country.
Source: New York Apple Association