New marketing opportunities explored at Fresh Cut Expo
New marketing opportunities explored at Fresh Cut Expo
BALTIMORE -- The convenience chain Sheetz Inc. said that its popular fruit cups have been a successful model for marketing fresh-cut products, but other fresh-cut offerings have been a disappointment.
Speaking at the Fresh Cut Expo, held here April 26-29, Louie Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing, said that the high quality in its fruit cups and the ease of assembling them have driven the company to look at introducing other fresh-cut products. "It's been a tremendous success," he said, adding that the company assembles the cups fresh throughout the day and puts it out on the shelves. The convenience stores receive the already- prepared fresh fruit three times a week, and the company is looking at expanding the deliveries to six times, he said.
But not all fresh-cut products have delivered the same level of success. The company, which operates more than 300 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina, decided to offer a spring salad mix for its customers. The conditions of the lettuce mix when it arrived from the West Coast were poor, he said.
"We ended up exiting the business after six months." So far, he said, it is too fragile in transportation and turnaround time.
Sheetz gained national attention in August 2004 when people who ate sandwiches and salads at the fast-food chain became ill in a large outbreak linked to Roma tomatoes. Sales came back quickly, although not as quickly in southwestern Pennsylvania where the outbreak occurred, he said, adding that there is a segment of people who will never come back.
Shane Sampels of Sysco said that its customers expect a high level of quality assurance. The company has nearly 200 people inspecting fields and conducting quality assurance for customers who want to be able to trace and take products off the market in hours or days.
But if there is a problem with a product, Sysco said it pulls out of the brand and reassesses. Mr. Sampels said that he sees more customers switching to fresh products and leaving canned and frozen competitors, which are "being hit hard" and forced to consolidate operations.
In another session, U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Robert Saftner talked about two new melons that the department has developed that could be in supermarkets in the next few years. Consumers are demanding an increased variety of fresh-cut fruit, he said, and USDA is looking for alternatives to cantaloupes, which have suffered from poor weather conditions and contamination issues in recent years.
One item is an orange-fleshed hybrid melon that could provide the industry with a product that allows for extended shelf life and better microbial quality, he said. The uniquely flavored melons taste more like honeydews than cantaloupes. Consumers liked the flavor, texture, sweetness and overall eating quality of the orange- fleshed melons as well as or better than those of cantaloupe and green-fleshed honeydew in taste tests, he said.
Orange-fleshed honeydews are well suited for fresh-cut processing and will enable melon growers and fresh-cut processors to provide a better tasting product, which should enhance fresh-cut melon sales, said Mr. Saftner.
USDA is also working on another melon being bred for fresh-cut processors to grow during the winter months. Again, this product would have a longer shelf life than other fresh-cut melons shipped to the United States in the winter months.
Speaking at the Fresh Cut Expo, held here April 26-29, Louie Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing, said that the high quality in its fruit cups and the ease of assembling them have driven the company to look at introducing other fresh-cut products. "It's been a tremendous success," he said, adding that the company assembles the cups fresh throughout the day and puts it out on the shelves. The convenience stores receive the already- prepared fresh fruit three times a week, and the company is looking at expanding the deliveries to six times, he said.
But not all fresh-cut products have delivered the same level of success. The company, which operates more than 300 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina, decided to offer a spring salad mix for its customers. The conditions of the lettuce mix when it arrived from the West Coast were poor, he said.
"We ended up exiting the business after six months." So far, he said, it is too fragile in transportation and turnaround time.
Sheetz gained national attention in August 2004 when people who ate sandwiches and salads at the fast-food chain became ill in a large outbreak linked to Roma tomatoes. Sales came back quickly, although not as quickly in southwestern Pennsylvania where the outbreak occurred, he said, adding that there is a segment of people who will never come back.
Shane Sampels of Sysco said that its customers expect a high level of quality assurance. The company has nearly 200 people inspecting fields and conducting quality assurance for customers who want to be able to trace and take products off the market in hours or days.
But if there is a problem with a product, Sysco said it pulls out of the brand and reassesses. Mr. Sampels said that he sees more customers switching to fresh products and leaving canned and frozen competitors, which are "being hit hard" and forced to consolidate operations.
In another session, U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Robert Saftner talked about two new melons that the department has developed that could be in supermarkets in the next few years. Consumers are demanding an increased variety of fresh-cut fruit, he said, and USDA is looking for alternatives to cantaloupes, which have suffered from poor weather conditions and contamination issues in recent years.
One item is an orange-fleshed hybrid melon that could provide the industry with a product that allows for extended shelf life and better microbial quality, he said. The uniquely flavored melons taste more like honeydews than cantaloupes. Consumers liked the flavor, texture, sweetness and overall eating quality of the orange- fleshed melons as well as or better than those of cantaloupe and green-fleshed honeydew in taste tests, he said.
Orange-fleshed honeydews are well suited for fresh-cut processing and will enable melon growers and fresh-cut processors to provide a better tasting product, which should enhance fresh-cut melon sales, said Mr. Saftner.
USDA is also working on another melon being bred for fresh-cut processors to grow during the winter months. Again, this product would have a longer shelf life than other fresh-cut melons shipped to the United States in the winter months.
