The “Lil Snapper” brand of apples, pears and citrus created by Stemilt Growers LLC continues to provide retailers with ongoing opportunities to boost sales while helping children eat more healthily. “The big deal is still our ‘Lil Snapper’ line,” Director of Marketing Roger Pepperl told The Produce News. “We are really pushing the Gala/Navel mixed bag for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are lining up a lot of customer demand for this bag and feel it will be a homerun.”

The brand is no less popular when it comes to pears. “We are pushing a holiday mix of ‘Lil Snapper’ pears for the holiday,” Pepperl commented. “We now have Bosc and red pears to add to the Bartlett and Anjou that have been selling well both last and this season.”

Based in Wenatchee, WA, Stemilt has as a solid reputation as one of the prominent tree fruit growers in the Pacific Northwest.

Roger Pepperl, director of marketing at Stemilt Growers LLC, said the company's ‘Lil Snappers’brand of fruit continues to be a home run. (Photo courtesy of Stemilt Growers LLC)The company is currently moving a full manifest of apples and pears. “We are approaching 15 percent of the crop that has been sold so far,” Pepperl said at the end of October. “Sales are great, and the ad activity is brisk. California pears are finished which just opened up the entire market to our Washington pears, the majority of which are from the Wenatchee and Entiat River Districts which are, of course, the best pears in the world.”

Pepperl said quality has been good. “Sizing has also been the key sizes which really helps meet market demand,” he added.

Approximately 20 percent of the company’s volume is moved offshore.

Stemilt continues to innovate with programs and information available to help retailers move product to consumers who are also hungry for information. “We have teamed up with other leading produce brands to create a fresh produce recipe guide for the holidays,” he said to illustrate. “We’ll be featuring Piñata apples in the guide, and hope the piece provides people across social media and the web with ideas and inspiration for using in-season produce in their holiday recipes.”

Social media continue to be a big focus at Stemilt. “In addition to the Fresh & Festive Guide, we are hosting Twitter parties, building a large community on Facebook, generating lots of great content to pin on Pinterest, and have found great success with our blog, The Stem,” Pepperl said. “We want to share our knowledge and passion for fruits with consumers, and social media are a great platform. Above all else, we are able to learn firsthand the type of things consumers want to know about our fruits, and then provide them with just that.”