On behalf of the 1,600 fresh pear growers of Washington and Oregon, Pear Bureau Northwest has named Wegmans Food Markets as the 2015 Pear Retailer of the Year for the group's merchandising performance and sales increase in the category.
The award was presented at the Pear Bureau’s PMA Fresh Summit Booth on 24 October.
Not only does Wegmans offer all 10 varieties of pears during the year, it also implements several proven merchandising strategies to improve their sales and volume over the prior year, according to the Bureau.
Maintaining strong sales requires implementation of a complete programme throughout the season, and according to Kevin Moffitt, president and CEO of Pear Bureau Northwest, Wegmans successfully offered their shoppers what they wanted.
“Wegmans displays conditioned pears that are ready to eat in a few days instead of ready in a week,” stated Moffitt. “Recent consumer research shows that over half of all pear consumers will eat their pear within the first two days of purchase. And, we know that ripe pears can outsell unripe pears by as much as 19.5 per cent at retail. The research supports this choice by Wegmans and contributed to their exceptional performance.”
Moffitt also shares more pear category best practices that Wegmans utilised including carrying two green pears, like Bartlett and Anjou all season, providing the choice of two sizes of bagged pears for busy shoppers, adding secondary pear displays to increase visibility and impulse purchases, and promoting recipes and pairing ideas when sampling pears.
“The practices implemented by Wegmans continue to put them at the top of the pear category performance, and we are proud to recognise their outstanding efforts,' he added.
