“We are excited to unveil a brand-new pear packing line this season,” said Brianna Shales, marketing director of the Wenatchee, WA-based company. “It features Unitec electronic sizing and sorting technology that is specifically designed to handle pears.”
Of course, Stemilt remains a key player in the Washington apple industry, with about 10 percent of the state’s volume.
“We are a year-round supplier of conventional and organic fruits and focus on freshness with modern varieties that consumers demand,” Shales said. “We are the leader in Cosmic Crisp apples, both conventionally and organically. We also are home to proprietary varieties like Rave and SweeTango apples.”
The variety mix has changed a great deal in the past few years at Stemilt, with new plantings coming into productions and overall volume increases on modern apple varieties. For example, Cosmic Crisp has gone from little volume to a core variety in the category.
“We have more SweeTango apples to offer during the fall peak and extend the season,” Shales said. “We’ve also bolstered our organic apple mix, with high-flavor varieties as the focus. We’re always refining the apple mix with what the consumer is clamoring for, and because of the way the crop grows, it can take several years before we see those changes in effect. With a great mix and good volumes, we are very focused on freshness as we head into the new season because that delivers the best consumer experience and drives repeat purchases.”
Stemlit operates with the mindset that one great apple experience will lead to another.
“We’re always looking for innovative packaging solutions to make apples convenient for retailers and shoppers,” Shales said. “We also work closely with retailers to build eye-catching displays, or solve merchandising challenges, in order to help them win at the point-of-sale on apples. To be successful, we have to be nimble and provide retailers with data and crop insights to make informed decisions around maximizing the value of a certain variety, package or the crop as a whole.”
The 2024 apple crop is down about 10 percent year-over-year but the company sees one that is still a very promotable crop.
“Honeycrisp, the top selling apple variety, is down in volume and we would expect that to translate to higher retail pricing,” Shales said.
“Cosmic Crisp is up in volume as it comes into production, with organic Cosmic also on the rise. Overall, it appears to be a great crop with plenty of promotion opportunities on core varieties, organics and club apples. We’re especially excited about our SweeTango crop and being able to supply that apple longer the most years in the past.”
Stemlit sees the biggest opportunity for expanding business over the new year coming from promotions.
“Regular, multiple varieties at a time and aligning the 4Ps (pricing, placement, product and promotion) to have the best results,” Shales said. “We also are ready to work with retailers to go big on Cosmic Crisp…it’s the fastest growing apple in the category.”
She added that with so many apples available, it’s important that retailers carry the best assortment for their customers and work to educate them about new varieties.
“We can create excitement and encourage impulse purchasing through merchandising…from big, themed displays that catch the eye to a wall of Lil Snappers apples to appeal to time-strapped parent shoppers,” Shales said. “We want to keep promoting apples and bringing excitement to merchandising while also focusing on fruit freshness and flavor.”
