The Chilean Fresh Fruit Association is the U.S.-based promotional arm for that South American country’s fruit exporters. As such, it works in a variety of ways with U.S. retailers to promote Chilean fruit.
“There are numerous retail chains, big and small, that run very successful Chilean fruit display contests,” said CFFA Managing Director Karen Brux. “They incorporate a Chilean theme into displays that often include a range of Chilean fruit, like red, green and black grapes, blueberries, peaches, plums and nectarines.”
She said one of the major selling points for Chilean fruit during the cold winter months in the United States is that retailers can bring a little summer into their stores utilizing Chile’s promotional theme: “A Taste of Summer. Fresh from Chile.”
She added that with the broadest range of these “summer” fruits available in February, many retailers like to build beautiful Chilean-themed displays that include multiple colors and varieties of grapes, blueberries and stone fruit.
CFFA also utilizes other promotional gimmicks to help retailers sell the crop. “Digital coupons have really taken off in the past few years, and retailers have seen double digit sales increases when offering coupons for Chilean fruit,” Brux said.
She offered that in-store demos have long been an important part of the Chilean promotional strategy. “Demos are still very effective, but in different ways,” she said. “For a category like blueberries, where we want to highlight the superior taste of Chilean blueberries, demos are a great way of showcasing this. For grapes, demos are effective in educating consumers on the different taste profiles of the newer varieties.”
She added that in-store demos are also very effective for the stone fruits, simply because many consumers don’t realize they can buy peaches, plums and nectarines during the winter. “When they see it at the retail level, they’re excited, and when they try a good piece of juicy, sweet stone fruit, they buy it. This is what Chile has to offer: the best of U.S. summer fruit, but during the winter.”
Brux said sales data has confirmed that in-store demos of Chilean stone fruits can generate double-digit sales increases across the board.
