Photo submitted for PMG's Produce Artist Award Series by Rigo Vargas with Sunset Foods
A few observations on the melon category, from my own grocery shopping experiences and from suppliers.
1. Variety generates impulse and incremental purchases.
If you don’t have it, they can’t buy it. When I went to the grocery store two weeks ago and the store had three or four melon varieties displayed together, I bought three – cantaloupe, canary and Lemon Drop – and, when I got home, I made a melon medley that lasted our household the whole week. Delicious!
On my next trip, to a different location of the same retailer, there were just two melon options. I bought both – but I would have happily bought more again if there were more varieties available.
2. Make sure you get credit for that variety.
Getting all those awesome options out the door at the correct ring can be a challenge. My husband recently tried to key in a Lemon Drop melon at the self-checkout register, but it wasn’t listed as an option and had no sticker on it. The clerk told him to enter it as a canary melon or as a “regular melon,” presumably a standard cantaloupe. At this store, there was a $1.50 difference between the Lemon Drop and the cantaloupe. Ouch.
So make sure all your varieties are available for look-up by cashiers or customers, and think about fun ways to educate clerks on the higher-dollar specialty items in the department, one season at a time.
3. Flavor drives it all.
When it comes to variety development, yield and durability through the supply chain are still important, but flavor is a non-negotiable now, and the eating experience that results allows the specialty melon category to be a feature of spring and summer, said Daren Van Dyke, director of marketing for Brawley, Calif.-based Five Crowns Marketing.
One specialty melon, the hami, has become so popular in recent years that it’s now mainstream.
Josh Leichter, CEO of Los Angeles-based Pacific Trellis Fruit, also noted the increased demand for high-flavor melon varieties, both among consumers and retailers.
“We have experienced a surge in consumer ‘where to buy’ inquiries and have significantly more specialty melon volume this year to meet this demand,” Leichter said. “Consumers are increasingly seeking out ‘treasure hunt’ type foods with unique flavor experiences, which is a growth trend we are seeing across produce categories including specialty melons.”