JJB Family Farms promoting Modi apples
JJB Family Farms promoting Modi apples
The Modi apple — a natural cross between Gala and Liberty apple varieties, was developed in the Po Valley of northern Italy, named after the famous painter Modigliani, who was known for bright red colors in his paintings.
JJB Family Farms, which is owned by first-generation immigrants from Holland Jack and Jane Brouwer, grows the Modi only on its Grand Island ranch, an island surrounded by the Sacramento River and Steamboat Slough.
“Our strategy is to develop the brand, develop the flavor and let the apple do the talking as far as acceptance,” said Derrell Kelso, manager of sales at the Stockton, CA-based company. “Consumers are really liking Modis. They like the crispness with the balance of a sweet with a little tart apple.”
JJB Family Farms started offering the apple variety three seasons ago and it has been going very well, with it now in approximately 2,000 stores.
“Our orchards are high-density planted with a protective shade cloth,” Kelso said. “We are a pack-to-order company, we size the fruit at the beginning of the season, this allows us to go to retailers and presell the crop before we start.”
JJB Family Farms does a saturating marketing targeting a geographical market area to have Modi apples in all stores in that area.
“No matter what store you go into in a target market area, you’ll find the Modi apple,” Kelso said. “This strategy has been very successful.
Modi apples will start hitting the stores during the first week of September and the season runs until February.
“Sales have been very good and growing year-over-year,” Kelso said, adding that for the upcoming season, JJB Family Farms will be close to 100,000 boxes, with the apples coming from over 600 acres.
The company merchandizes Modi Apples in a three-pound clamshell called Modi Bites, and this year will offer three-pound Modi clear bags. It also offers two-pound Modi pouch bags.
“Most of the retailers are carrying the Modi Bites because smaller bite-size snack apples are becoming very popular, we sold out last year as movement was very strong,” Kelso said.
The company is also involved in school lunch programs, where it is introducing students to the Modi apple. This year, it’s expected that more than 2 million children will be introduced to the Modi apple for the first time.
Currently, pricing is around the same as high-end Fuji apples, so Kelso noted that’s very reasonable for such a popular variety.
“Our strategy is to develop the brand, develop the flavor, and let the apple do the talking as far as acceptance,” he said. “We’re not asking club-variety prices. Consumers are really liking it thus far. They like the storage ability because it stays crisp and has really good shelf life and stays hard at ambient temperatures.”
JJB Family Farms does a saturating marketing where it picks a geographical area and does its best to have the Modi apple in all the stores in that particular area.
“That way, no matter what store you go into, you’ll always see it,” Kelso said. “That strategy has been very successful. This year, we are talking to retailers who have a highly Italian demographic because it is popular in Italy. But everyone loves it.”
