Columbia Marketing International, headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, is ready for the national rollout of its new Sweet Gourmet Pears program which includes a new pouch bag. “CMI introduced the Sweet Gourmet pouch bag for Bartletts, Anjous, Red Anjous and Bosc pears on a test basis last year,” said Steve Lutz, vice president of marketing “We were very pleased with the results. We found that the pouch bag grew volume because it increased consumer transactions with a minimal level of cross-category cannibalization. The results were meaningful increases in both dollars and volume.”

Lutz illustrated by saying that, “One large southeastern retailer tested the bag this season in one division. In that division, the Sweet Gourmet pouch bag became the third-largest selling item in the pear category and generated 98 percent of the category sales growth.”

The bag has a number of advantages. “First, besides having a beautiful package to attract attention and support impulse sales, the pouch bag offers a billboard for usage suggestions and recipes,” Lutz commented. “Second, the bag itself seems to have a positive impact on fruit maturity. Third, the pouch bag appeals to convenience-oriented shoppers who buy on the go and prefer packaged produce. As a result, offering both bulk and high-graphic pouch bag packages is critical to success.”

CMI plans a major social media campaign with the rollout of Sweet Gourmet Pears.

Conditions during the 2014 production season have been excellent, Lutz told The Produce News. “The Northwest had an excellent cherry crop, and the pear and apple crops look to be equally strong,” he said. “We’ve had warm weather, so harvest dates are probably running about one week to 10 days earlier than normal.”

CMI, which primarily grows and markets conventional pears, anticipates a slight downturn in pear volume this season. “Pollination was very good. But it’s been reported that the bloom was down slightly, resulting in fewer fruits on the tree. However, that may be offset somewhat with better sizing,” Lutz noted, adding that quality and sizing are looking good.

Approximately 30 percent of the company’s total pear volume will be exported. The top destinations include Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and Russia.

Lutz provided some insights about how critical store merchandising/assortment is to success in pears at the retail level. “There is seasonality to variety, and consumers are responding to different pears throughout the year,” he commented. “So, getting the right mix of pear varieties on the shelf is a critical first step.”

Pears are a high impulse purchase. “Consumer research done several years ago showed that pears had one of the highest impulse purchase rates of any produce item and among the lower planned purchase rates,” he stated. “For example, bananas, potatoes and onions are all high on the planned purchase list where products like pears, cherries and variety berries are high on impulse.”

This means that display location, display size and shelf visibility are critical to category performance. “If consumers don’t see the pear display, they are less likely to seek out them out,” Lutz continued. “If the display is visible, up front and in a higher traffic location, impulse purchases kick in and drive overall sales performance. With pears, out of sight means out of mind.”

Recipes and usage suggestions are a big factor communicating beyond the average older consumer and reaching the younger set. “Younger consumers just don’t know pears well and buy at much lower levels,” Lutz stated. “So, having recipes and usage suggestions on the shelf to help consumers shift into purchase mode is very important.”

Lutz said CMI places high-quality food recipes on its pouch bag to address this issue.

Finally, Lutz said, secondary freestanding displays can create additional intercept points to stop consumers and drive impulse sales.