With the July Fourth holiday now in the rearview mirror, we are headed right into the heart of the summer season. And when I think of summer, I think of one of my favorite fruits to both eat and sell in the produce department — fresh cherries!
We are now in full swing into Northwest cherry season, with some delicious varieties of cherries coming out of Washington State as we move through the summer months. No other produce commodity, outside of maybe watermelon, screams summer more to me than cherries. Peaches are very close, but there is something about the summer mystique of enjoying fresh cherries as a kid, and now an adult, that just sticks with me. And I am sure I am not alone, as the cherry movement in the produce department during cherry season speaks for itself.
Send photos of your summer displays for the next Produce Artist Award Series contest
Cherries are one of the heavyweights in the produce department for driving sales dollars. They often command, especially this season, a premium price for fruit, and the consumer will pay those premiums for it. For instance, I personally have seen organic cherries this season retail for as high as $12.99 for a pound, and stores could not keep them on the shelf. With a bag that holds close to 2 pounds of fruit, that’s a $25 to $26 ring at the register. Think about that one for a second.
Also, the cherry season is a relatively short-lived one, which makes these little red and white gems more desirable to the consumer. The mantra of “Get them while you can!” definitely applies to cherries.
So, what are some ways to build strong sales in the cherry category? How do we maximize the small window that cherries have to gain some added tonnage and profits, while doing it with a minimal amount of shrink? Cherries are not like oranges and apples, which will hold well in a back room or cooler for days. The name of the game for merchandising and selling cherries is to keep them fresh and keep them turning.
Cherry chills
Always store your fresh cherries in your cooler upon delivery until they are ready to hit your counters and displays. A great question I always get asked when doing displays of fresh cherries is: Do cherries require refrigeration to be sold and merchandised? The answer is that cherries will surely do best displayed in your cold cases and in your refrigerated sets.
These are the winners of the Spring 2022 Produce Artist Award Series contest
However, it is not a necessary practice to always keep them in a cold setting while for sale, but retail price and volume will oftentimes dictate how you merchandise them. This is a tricky balance to manage at times, but it certainly can be done. The key component will be properly managing your displays and forecasting your sales.
Cherry cleaners
Cherries are a highly perishable commodity and require a bit more attention than other produce items. You want to be sure that you are always offering the best quality fruit on display so the customer will enjoy a great piece of fruit and you can be as profitable as possible.
Be sure to cull and rotate with each packout and discard any unsellable fruit from the packs. If you are doing out-of-refrigeration displays, rotate those on display into your case coolers and place the colder fresher cherries on your next packout on the dry displays. Keeping your displays fresh will lead to better sales and reduced shrink.
Cherry choices
There are limited stock-keeping units of cherries that you will be able to offer your customers. It’s basically red cherries and light cherries, such as Rainier. While dark, sweet, red cherries are the powerhouse stock-keeping unit in your set, the light, yellow-red variety have become quite popular (my personal fave) and do command a higher retail price.
To get the most out of this category, you will want to offer both in your displays and sets. Plus, even though the light cherries are gaining steam within the category, there are many people who have never seen or tried them and are quite intrigued that they come in this color. Also, they add a really cool color contrast when displayed with the reds. Cherries are packed and sold in many ways, primarily in clamshells, 1.5 or 2-pound bags and top-seal packs. Offering a mixture of these in your cherry sets will create options and convenience for your customers.
Cherry visionary
Cherries are unique because it is one of the best commodities that offer super impulse sales opportunities and are on customers’ shopping lists. This is where planning, setting up and executing creative, fun cherry displays comes into play. You want to capture that impulse sale with the consumers who don’t have cherries on the ol’ shopping list.
- Place cherry displays in a high-traffic area to make sure they are in a nice, visible spot for your customers to see.
- Utilize cooler space when available to keep them cold for sure, but don’t be afraid to display neatly on dry display bins or emptied-out boxes.
- Forecast your sales to figure out the size of the display and the amount of fresh cherries to keep the display full.
- Try and keep your display boxes as uniform as possible to keep everything looking neat and clean.
- Create levels to draw the eyes of the customer over the entire display using crates, display bins and the false bottom (“dummied”) methods to create mass with little product. A great cherry display will surely stop a customer in their tracks.
- Stacking bags of cherries only one pack high will prevent damage and any bruising to fruit. Cherries packed in clamshells and top-seal packs offer more protection, so there is a little more forgiveness with stacking, but be sure to follow good rotation practices when packing out fresh product.
- In your cold cases and regular counter sets, merchandise cherries with berries and grapes for high visibility.
The key to being successful in selling cherries is to keep them fresh. I hope you continue to enjoy the summer months and the days of merchandising fresh cherries that lie ahead!
— Brian Dey is a senior merchandiser and trainer at Four Seasons Produce. He won Best Merchandiser in the Winter 2021, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 contests of PMG’s Produce Artist Award Series and was a guest judge in the Spring 2022 contest.