Poll points to the importance of more display area for added onion sales at retail

There is more than one way to spur onion sales at retail, but early returns from a poll of industry members point to the importance of retail display space.

Members of the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group were asked, “What's the most reliable way to spur onion sales at retail?”

With about 66 votes cast, those responding to the listed options voted this way:

• Hot advertised price — 27%.
• More display space/attention — 38%.
• Local grower promotion — 21%.
• Point of sale recipes — 14%.
  

“The large footprint chain store I shop has a very small bulk onion display with tiny signs,” one member commented. “Often the yellow sweet onions are empty or shopped hard. There is no impulse at all in the onion category at this store. I would gamble to say that this is a well-used planogram for this large chain. Occasionally there is a secondary avocado, onion and roma display with small signage and no produce wet bags. Sad times for onion merchandising. I’m in an onion-producing state too.”

Another industry member supported the idea of larger display areas.

“Spuds are in the same boat as onions,” the member said. “Small displays equate to small sales. I am from the ‘Pile it high and watch it fly’ era. It seems that priorities are out of wack. Too much merchandising for profit and margin and not enough merchandising for sales. Let’s face it, you cannot do business with an empty cart.”