Research Reports

The stone fruit industry put years of research and countless resources into conditioning to deliver ripe, delicious fruit to consumers.

All of that work is ruined by one mealy peach—or nectarine, or plum.

With all of the competition in the summer, it’s hard for consumers to commit to something they’re not sure will be exceptional.

“I think the big thing I’ve heard with retailers is that they’re having a bad experience selling stone fruit,” says Roger Pepperl, marketing director for Wenatchee-based Stemilt Growers Inc. “People think they can’t get a good peach anymore and that’s not true at all.”

What is ripe, anyway?

It’s hard for consumers to tell whether a piece of fruit is ripe, says Dave Parker, director of marketing for Traver, Calif.-based Scattaglia Growers & Shippers LLC.

“All of the research that the industry has done points to the uncertainty of the result of the purchase,” Parker says. “You can’t tell from looking at the fruit how ripe it is like you can a banana. The fruit does require ripening after picking, and most frequently it requires ripening after purchase as well.”

Unlike berries and grapes, stone fruit typically isn’t ready to eat right away.

Making sure consumers have the best tasting fruit is the most important part of selling more stone fruit, Pepperl says. “It’s got to have the right amount of sugars when it’s picked off the tree, and the right flavors through good farming practices.”

Even after all that, Pepperl says, careful attention must be paid to the cold chain.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The Killing Zone

Most retailers know to keep their stone fruit out of the “killing zone” of 36-50 degrees, but what about consumers?

“We continue to educate consumers not to refrigerate fruit if it is still firm,” says Dovey Plain, marketing coordinator for Family Tree Farms, Reedley, Calif. “That’s what causes that mealy mess. Once it’s ripe and juicy you can’t hurt it.”

Plain says Family Tree Farms works to make sure consumers know how to care for their stone fruit after purchase.

Demoing made easy

Offering samples of fruit doesn’t have to be a big production, Parker says. Many retailers do not have the labor hours or the budget to do formal sampling in the produce department.

“Having cut up a fair amount of fruit myself, I can say that it doesn’t take long if you find that ripe piece of fruit,” he says. “Have some set aside that’s ripening. It doesn’t take long to cut a bite size piece of a peach and offer it to someone. They will respond if the piece of fruit is ripe and tasty.”

Parker says it can take as little as a minute or two to distribute a piece of fruit among customers, but it’s important to remember the golden rule.

“The rule for any produce associate who wants to undertake that initiative is to always taste the first cut,” he says. “Taste it yourself first and then when you’re smiling already, you’re going to be in a better mood to persuade someone else that it’s really worth trying.”

Stand by your displays

The produce department is a competitive place. What have you done to make sure consumers know you’re putting forth the best quality possible?

Pepperl says he likes to see retailers include messages in their displays on why they choose his company over the competition.

“We’re not expensive, but we’re not the cheapest guy on the block,” he says. “Why not tell the customer why you took the time to buy my product?”

Stemilt’s marketing materials include information about its family-owned businesses, as do Family Tree Farms’.

Plain says this helps tap into the homegrown trend.

“Fortunately a lot of retailers are asking for this information,” she says. “We want to bring the feeling of locally grown to suppliers they are working with.”

This includes in-store signs, photography available for ads and information on the company’s website.

Retail best practices

Promoting a variety of stone fruit in addition to the staple peaches and nectarines boosts overall performance in the category. The California Tree Fruit Agreement compiled retailer data to produce a best practices guide, which Parker says showed one thing in common.

“The best retailers had higher shares of white peaches, nectarines and plums within the category, which suggests greater variety sells more product,” he says. “The best retailers weren’t the earliest to promote, either. They wait until the beginning of June and then promote the entire season.”

The CFTA’s research, available at www.eatcaliforniafruit.com, showed the highest ad frequency for the best retailers was in July, August and September.

Parker suggests building an early season display to let consumers know stone fruit season has arrived, and then follow with ads when fruit hits its peak flavor.

“The highest dollars per store per week and highest pounds per store per week coincided with the presence of plums in the ads,” he says.