Northwest cherry season is right around the corner and with it another expansion of CMI Orchards’ American Dream program.
“This cherry season, we will have red and rainier American Dream cherry pouch bags for retailers to propel sales through peak harvest volume periods and Independence Day promotions,” said Rochelle Bohm, brand manager for CMI Orchards. “The program continues to grow in popularity domestically, with unprecedented success in export markets. Our packaging and boxes offer retailers an easy way to create an in-store destination creating excitement and driving consumer interest.” 
The goal of the program is to unify the nation in a bipartisan way, thanking military members and their relatives for their sacrifices. Packaging billboards when set up and perfectly aligns with red, white and blue holiday events.
Last season, CMI offered American Dream red and Rainier cherries in bulk format only, which was predominantly exported. This year, the company will be introducing a new pouch bag package for both red and Rainier cherries. Bohm expects the peak promotional timing to be between June 25 through mid-July.
“Following CMI’s special invitation to the White House in July, 2019 where we participated in the ‘Made in America’ event and showcased our program, American Dream was a hot commodity and we’ve been able to run many successful retail promotions since,” said Bohm. “We are really excited to offer our customers a way to power sales throughout the summer with this new cherry packaging.”
Last season, CMI partnered with a large regional retailer to run a promotion aligned with Veteran’s Day in more than 300 stores. Consumers were extremely excited about the Americana-themed billboard created by stacking boxes. Sales spiked for the promotional period and the retailer decided it was so successful they wanted to keep it going, continuing promotions for Memorial Day, Independence Day, and then again in Veterans Day.
“Produce Managers have been really excited by the event, and for the opportunity to contribute towards something meaningful and give back to the military and veteran members of their communities,” said Bohm. “We’ve been thrilled by the response and creativity demonstrated by crafty produce managers building on the theme to create outstanding patriotic retail displays.”
American Dream equips retailers with another tool to raise sales, with the added benefit of being able to help fund community causes. The popularity of the program has enabled CMI to contribute to small, regional military and veteran charities, organizations and events, as well as make major contributions to the Wounded Warrior Project.
“We will need retailer commitments as soon as possible as supplies will be limited for the American Dream promotion,” said Bohm. The new, high-graphic 1.25-pound rainier cherry, and 2.25-pound red cherry pouch bags deliver in a matching, patriotic display ready euro for creating impressive summer cherry displays. “We have tons of tools and point of sale materials and want to work with our retail partners to customize promotions to match what they’re looking for.”
