WENATCHEE, Wash. – We’ve all heard of Johnny Appleseed’s tale, but did you know that St. Patrick also dabbled with some apple trees? Rumor has it, St. Patrick planted apple trees at an ancient settlement east of Armagh and today, County Armagh is actually known as the “Orchard County” in Ireland due to its many cultivated apple orchards.
For St. Patrick’s Day, Stemilt suggests making your very own “Orchard County” throughout your produce department to push higher volumes and sales of apples around the Irish holiday. Brianna Shales, communications manager for Stemilt, suggests that now is the time to begin planning multi-variety ads.
“St. Patrick’s Day is a great holiday to promote apples because there continues to be fresh supplies of multiple varieties available,” states Shales. “Retailers should schedule a multi-variety ad right now and plan for visually stimulating displays with lots of color that feature many popular apples starting the week of March 12.”
Shales advises retailers to plan ads around five or more varieties, including Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Piñata®. With larger sizing in high demand for many apple varieties, Shales suggests Stemilt’s popular bagged apple brands to focus the attention on during St. Patrick’s Day. “Convenience is a strong desire of shoppers right now, and the smaller size profile of varieties like Fuji and Gala make for great opportunities to run Lil Snappers® 3lb. pouch bag or 5lb. Apple Lover pouch bag promotions.”
Retailers can also capitalize on organic apple opportunities for St. Patrick’s Day, including the famously green Organic Granny Smith apple. “Our Artisan Organics™ brand recently expanded to include organic Apple Lovers, and we also have our health-focused juicing apple line, Fresh Blenders™, as well as Lil Snappers® available organically. Creating a vibrant display with smaller sized organic Granny’s in bags is a great way to feature the green color in that multi-variety ad,” said Shales.
Retailers could also tap into the pear category during St. Patrick’s Day promotions and fold in ads around d’Anjou pears. The green, juicy pear is a great pear for fresh, out-of-hand snacking or included in culinary dishes. “D’Anjou pears would be a great liner with apple ads or in-store St. Patrick’s Day special,” says Shales. “The 5lb. Rushing Rivers™ pouch bag is convenient for shoppers, as it is easy to grab-and-go and the d’Anjou pear is a versatile, winter pear variety that will complement this apple themed promotion perfectly.”
Stemilt has plenty of option to help retailers build fun, festive displays during this key promotional period. “From recipes to in-store displays like There’s An Apple For That, Lil Snappers® and more, we have many tools to help retailers plan exciting St. Patrick’s Day promotions,” states Shales. “Building visual displays and placing those displays in high traffic areas will boost sales and volumes during this key promotional period making the retailer’s sales dollars soar.”
For more, please visit Stemilt.com or contact your Stemilt representative today.
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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