The 2013 tree fruit production season bodes well for marketing and merchandising opportunities for Domes Superfresh Growers and its customer base. The company, located in Yakima, WA, is one of the state’s premiere grower-packer-shippers of a host of fresh fruit including apples and pears.

Howard Nager, vice president marketing, provided The Produce News with his observations. “The apple crop appears to be picking somewhat shorter than the original estimate of 119 million boxes,” he stated. “However, it is still a bumper crop. The fruit quality is good with larger fruit presenting more promotional opportunities. Those retailers that merchandise 72s and larger are right in the wheelhouse for our fall promotion of Big Fruit Big Taste. There will be ample opportunity to promote apples this year as well with our Apple-A-Rama, Fall Festival, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas promotions.”

Domex Superfresh Growers plans to work with its retail partners on a number of promotions showcasing larger-sized apples and pears produced this season. In addition to its Big Fruit Big Taste promotion during the fall, retailers can also take advantage of programs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Photo courtesy of Domex Superfresh Growers)Autumn Glory, marketed exclusively by Domex, continues to gain in popularity. “This apple is available in limited quantities and continues to impress consumers around the country with its taste and texture,” Nager stated. “We will be packing organic Autumn Glory in mid-late December and conventional fruit in January.”

Domex is a grower, packer and marketer of high-quality organic apples. Although organic volume is down overall, Nager said, “It will be critical that merchandising and promotion plans for organics are mutually discussed to ensure consumer expectations are met with consistent supply and availability.”

Shifting to pears, Nager said the fruit has also sized well. “Size 60 pears fit very nicely along with the larger apples,” he commented. “Increasing the size of the pear that a retailer carries has a direct impact on building incremental sales. If a retailer merchandises 70-60 count pears, they will see a 14 percent increase per purchase and a 16.6 percent increase in sales if they sell a size 60-50.” The figures, he explained, are based on an average purchase size of three pears at a retail price of $1.79 per pound.

Promotional opportunities at retail are not limited to larger pears. Nager said smaller fruit will be available for bag promotions. “However, pricing and promotional opportunities will not be as abundant as with the larger size fruit,” he added.

Domex plans to work closely with its retail partners to customize a number of promotions throughout the year.

The company recently relaunched its website, revamping its approach to social media. “[The website] will now act as the hub for our marketing strategy,” he explained. “Using a proprietary social data analysis tool, we are discovering and actively engaging in conversations with consumers related to the products that we grow. Consumers are turning into researchers and increasingly want to know more about their produce. They want to know if what they are eating is healthy, safe and responsibly grown produce. Listening for what is ‘trending now,’ combined with our profit planning strategies, category analysis and customer planning will directly benefit our partnerships at retail and allow us to work together to delight customers.”

Promotions have also been a visible part of the company’s networking through Instagram and Facebook. “Through our social networks and retail partners, we will be asking apple, pear and cherry consumers to post photos of their favorite recipe, variety or healthy activity,” Nager said. “The campaign is centered around our philosophy that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the best thing people can do for their health, and that we all need to eat more.”

The outlets, he went on to say, give consumers ample opportunities to connect with Domex. “We have also been building a consumer dialogue through Twitter with many foodies and food bloggers,” he continued. “They are all very interested in recipe information, storage, handling and history and knowledge of apples, pears and cherries.”

Domex has published many new apple and pear blogs about the fruit, nutrition and fun facts. “We also have published an apple and pear availability guide that can be found on our website, http://superfreshgrowers.com/blog,” he noted.