Bill Litvin, regional sales and national account manager for Giorgio Fresh Co., headquartered in Temple, PA, said that the company offers special holiday packs of stuffer mushrooms that sell extremely well during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter.

“We have five special packs,” said Mr. Litvin. “They are a 40-ounce stuffer, which many retailers feature, a 12-count cap, which has great eye appeal on the shelf, a 24-ounce stuffer, three-pound wood baskets and a six-count cap package. While these are all offered year round, the holidays bring tremendous focus on these packs. Sales jump especially for the week leading into each of the holidays, especially in the Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. markets.”

All of these packs, he noted, are available year-round, but sales are particularly strong during the holidays. In fact, Giorgio Fresh has offered these packs for many years.

“For many customers, these packs have become part of their tradition,” said Mr. Litvin. “We still offer the three-pound wood boxes which have the longest tradition, dating back many years. There are stores I visit during the holidays where they have a skid of three-pound baskets in front of the store. It’s a great tradition. At one store in the Bronx, the top guy, let’s call him Joe, said that we can stop offering the wood baskets when he retires. And he shows no sign of retiring. He loves his job [and no doubt, Giorgio Fresh’s wood baskets of mushrooms].

Mushrooms, Mr. Litvin added, basically sell themselves at the holidays, and the company therefore avoids strong promotional activity.

Giorgio Fresh’s 10-ounce Gourmet Stuffing Mushrooms — perfect for holiday recipes.“Instead, we encourage our retailers to offer a wide selection of attractively packaged mushrooms,” he said. “Consumers are looking for them anyway. Quality and availability are the most important aspects for our retailers during the holidays.”

Mushrooms, he added, are very important in holiday displays in retailer’s produce departments.

“Because mushrooms are a huge holiday item, we see many different concepts for how best to merchandise them,” said Mr. Litvin.

He noted that during this year’s Thanksgiving season, mushroom supplies were very tight.

“Hurricane Sandy impacted many growers at a critical time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas crops,” he said. “However, Giorgio was able to fill all orders, including the stuffer mushroom orders from our customers.”

Since 1928, Giorgio has enjoyed a longstanding reputation for providing the worldwide retail and food service industry with the finest quality mushrooms. A family-owned business with a family tradition of excellence, the “Giorgio” brand stands for quality and integrity nationally.

The Safe Quality Food Institute, or SQFI, certifies Giorgio for Safe Quality Food, Level 3, the highest level attainable. Its farms are all Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices certified, and it grows 99 percent of all the fresh mushrooms it sells.

The company’s Produce Traceability Initiative has been in place for some time. Mr. Litvin said its Global Trade Item Number, commonly referred to as GTIN, is in place, but the company continues to work on it. Giorgio is also well prepared for Produce Traceability Initiative compliance at all of its U.S. and Mexican facilities.

Giorgio Fresh Co. is a third-generation grower-shipper of a full range of fresh mushrooms. Modern Mushroom is also third-generation, with over 85 years of experience in the mushroom industry.