FRESNO, CA — As part of its promotional support programs for retailers this year, the California Table Grape Commission, here, is offering tagged radio ads, magazine ads and online banner ads to retailers who meet some basic performance criteria.

“We have a volume-based promotion agreement with retailers, to increase their volume over the previous year,” said Cindy Plummer, vice president of domestic marketing for the commission. “That goes to mid-January [2013] this year.”

The commission is using various programs “to leverage retailers,” Ms. Plummer said. Among them, “we have a partnership with The Food Network, and we are leveraging the [Food Network] magazine and online banner ads [on the Food Network website] with retailers.”

The online banner program Cindy Plummerwill run from September through November, she said. “Already we’ve got retailers set up for that, where they increase their promotional activity over the previous year during that September-through-November time period.”

The commission is also “offering traffic radio as a quick leverage for the retailers to upgrade their ads to front page or multiple varieties, three varieties or more,” she continued. “Traffic radio is available with a two-week notice to us. We will buy that custom for their market.”

The commission has new point-of-purchase materials this year as well as a new two-sided combination variety chart and training guide for backroom produce personnel at retail. “That is available both electronically and physically” in 8.5 inch by 11-inch format. “On the front is the standard variety chart with our top varieties,” she said. “On the back is a condensed training guide, so it is not multiple pages like we have had in the past.” It contains “easy quick tips for getting the grapes to last longer on the display.”

Since the start of the season, the commission’s field representatives have been out meeting with retailers, Ms. Plummer said July 9. “We have already done our first round of calls. We have two more calls to do. We will begin calling on retainers [a second time] starting next week and hopefully finishing up” prior to the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit. The third round “will start right around PMA time in October, just to remind retailers to stay with California through the end of the year,” she said.

In the Commission’s presentations to retailers over the next several months, “we will be talking about the promotional elements that we have for the retailers, and we will talk about the latest consumer research that we have” as well as the latest category research.

As part of its retail trade communications outreach, the commission is sending out a newsletter to retailers every two or three weeks to keep them current on “different things that are going on with the grape crop, keep them updated on programs, inform them of “different things that are coming up” and notify them of “when materials are available for them,” she said.

In addition, “we will do some analysis of their performance last year vs. the rest of the market and ways they can improve to sell more grapes,” Ms. Plummer said.

The commission will be participating in several industry events over the course of the season. “We are going to be one of the sponsors of the pre-conference event at the California Grocers Association” the last week in September, she said. It will be the first time the commission has been involved in that event.

“And we are going to be doing this year, for the first time, the Midwest Produce conference” which will be held in Chicago in August. In addition, “we will be at PMA with a booth.”