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Stone Fruit

Stone fruits are popular fruits with many consumers. Although they are available year-round, summer peak season prices are the best time to promote the highly sought after fruit. Be sure to educate your employees on the importance of proper handling. Stone fruit made up about $2 billion in sales in 2015, according to IRI/Fresh Look Marketing.

Commodities

Apricots

Cherries

Nectarines

Peaches

Plums

Sales Strategies

Nothing says summer like a peach cobbler or pie. Cross-merchandise baking goods like pie crusts and cobbler ingredients near your stone fruit display.
Appeal to consumers interested in canning and jelly-making by offering boxes or bags of fruit. Cross-merchandise with pectin, canning jars and other canning and jelly-making supplies.
Stone fruit is a sweet, summery addition to salads. Encourage consumers to add peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots not just to fruit salads but to green salads as well.
Offer samples to ensure consumers that your fruit is not mealy or bruised. Trying it in the store gives them more confidence that what they purchase will taste good at home, as well. Offer samples of white-flesh varieties to get consumers interested in the entire category.
Encourage consumers to think of nectarines and peaches as good grilling partners. Offer recipes for grilled fruit kabobs. Get consumers thinking of stone fruit as a center of the plate partner and not just a snack.
Children love stone fruit so encourage consumers to purchase them as a sweet, portable snack or lunch option for kids.

Dynamic Displays

The biggest deterrent to stone fruit sales is consumers having a poor eating experience previously. Avoid creating a bad experience from poor handling. Stone fruit bruises easily, so avoid stacking. Gently place fruit on the display instead of dumping it out of the box.
Peak production of stone fruit is a herald of summer. Consumers think of lazy days in the sun when stone fruit hits the shelves. Make stone fruit a staple item for their summer eating plans. Create a large stone fruit display in a prominent place in your department. Large, colorful displays encourage impulse purchases. Include both white- and yellow-flesh peaches and nectarines, black and red plums, and donut peaches and pluots in your display.
Consumers love cherry season, so build large displays and make it clear the season is a short one, which creates urgency to buy.
Having a good eating experience at home means you need educated consumers. Make sure consumers know how to treat the fruit when they get it home. Provide ripening information and make sure consumers know to keep unripe stone fruit out of the fridge.