Fowler Farms looking to spread the word on its apples
Fowler Farms looking to spread the word on its apples
“Go west, young man,” newspaper editor Horace Greeley famously said in the mid-18th century, trying to encourage people to move from the crowded Northeast corridor of the country to the wide-open spaces of much of the rest of the nation.
Today, eastern apple growers will add that as people move to these other parts of the country, they should remember the taste and quality of apples grown in the east and do all they can to get local retailers in their new towns aware of the fact they should carry these items.
That is a strategy Michael Hacker, vice president of sales and marketing for Fowler Farms, is using to build sales of his central and western New York-grown apples in other parts of the country.
“On one hand, the category is flat, but on the other, it is strong, especially in other parts of the nation,” said Hacker, a seven-year veteran at the Wolcott, NY-based operation. “As people continue to move away from the Northeast to other parts of the nation, they still want the apples they are not only accustomed to but really enjoy. So, we are seeing a growing demand for our products in many areas of the south, especially in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, and even in the Midwest and other parts of the country.”
In particular, Hacker said that the Macintosh, Cortland and Empire varieties are doing very well in other regions of the country and he expects sales to continue to tick up for these varieties in the future.
“As people move, they are also spreading the word about these varieties and others that help build awareness and trial by other consumers in search of great-tasting fruit,” he noted. “In the end, our job is to provide high-quality and great-tasting fruit as much as possible. The consumer will love it and the retailer will gain additional sales.”
Building storage facilities that will maintain fresh fruit well after the season is over is another emphasis for Fowler Farms. “We are paying a lot of attention to creating storage facilities that will allow us to offer fresh, great-tasting varieties long after the fruit is picked. For example, we pulled some Galas out of storage that were picked last year. They are still very juicy and when they hit store shelves they will offer really good fruit that will spur demand.”
Hacker believes that Fowler Farms is perfectly positioned to offer consumers a wide variety of apples that will satisfy most demands.
While older consumers seem more interested in the tried-and-true varieties, younger shoppers are more willing to explore new varieties.
“We still need the retailer’s help,” he said. “They need to do sampling and offer point-of-sale information about the apple’s characteristics, where they came from and how they were grown. They need to be able to communicate with the shopper to build brand awareness and to encourage tasting new varieties. Do that right and we all win.”
Hacker also hopes that the message is clear to retailers and consumers in the northeast that locally-grown produce has many advantages, including the fact that they are more sustainable, fresher and not trucked across the nation. “Overall, it creates a better eating experience for everyone,” he noted.
Fowler Farms is also working on building interest in apples at a young age. The company has launched Heroes for Healthy Kids, a campaign designed to get students to eat more apples in school. “Our goal is to get more fruit into the school systems so that kids will try them, like them and we can create apple lovers for a long time,” Hacker said. “We need to increase awareness and consumption and by starting early we think kids will go home and ask mom and dad for more apples.”
