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omething to love about fresh produce is it truly comes in its own pristine and beautiful packaging. One of those with its own aesthetic beauty is strawberries. The naturally eye-catching and vibrant berry has the benefits of great nutrition, versatile usage, and palate-appeal across demographics. What are some of the berry lovers in our industry touting about the category? Find out here…
Cindy Jewell
Vice President of Marketing, California Giant Berry Farms
“June is peak California strawberry season, when every retailer should have them front and center in the department. A secondary display near the checkout stand will get more fresh berries through the register throughout the month as well. Shoppers are looking for fresh strawberries at this time of the year, and they will buy them! Graduation, Father’s Day, and the first day of summer all happen in June, which calls for a party that always includes strawberries. Provide solutions to your shoppers by adding shortcakes, chocolate, glaze mixes, and other items that complement berries and provide inspiration as they rush through the produce department.”
Kiana (Wilkinson) Amaral
Business Manager, BlazerWilkinson
“One of my favorite parts of grocery shopping is browsing the produce department—the bright colors and fresh scents offering a warm welcome to the healthiest eating options in the store. I live and breathe strawberries every day, but nothing says fresh to me like seeing beautiful cases of red berries as I walk into the store. They’re great for a treat in the kids’ lunches or even better, as a healthy dessert topping—and I always have a few in the fridge for a grab-and-go snack—with three active kids, we are constantly on the go! Nobody EVER gets tired of munching on fresh strawberries!”
Melanie Mastronardi
Project Coordinator, Community, SUNSET® Mastronardi
“When it comes to strawberries, I simply can’t get enough—especially SUNSET® WOW™ berries. They taste exactly the way a strawberry should. My new fave way to eat them is paired with almonds in my morning superfood smoothie. We have a great recipe on our website—try it and you won’t look back! My love for berries doesn’t stop at strawberries, and I am very excited to start adding all our new premium WOW™ berries to my morning ritual when they launch this fall.”
Caitlin Tierney
Director of Produce, 99 Cents Only Stores
“At 99 Cents Only Stores, strawberries come in second place to our number one item: bananas. Strawberries alone represent around seven percent of our total produce department and 50 percent of our berry category. This year we were able to have roughly 70 percent of our Mexican strawberry volume be organic, which allowed us to increase sales and excite our customer with an extreme value. We have found that strawberries increase the total produce basket, as well as don’t have a true substitute. If we are out of strawberries, we can’t make up for their lost sales in other categories. To say the least, we greatly value strawberries and our providers during every season.”
CarrieAnn Arias
Vice President of Marketing, Naturipe Farms
“We encourage retailers and buyers to partner with us on numerous opportunities to promote strawberries. Campaigns are powerful tools to help move products, and our team has developed programs to help promote strawberries during their peaks and the holidays. Our campaigns include social media graphics and support to help bring shoppers into the store, eye-catching in-store signage to attract shoppers to the berry display, and recipe development to share with shoppers the many ways to add strawberries to their dishes!”
Lindsey Giddings
Food Safety Coordinator and Social Media Manager,
Always Fresh Farms
“For me, strawberries are the royalty of the fruit world. Their sweet and tangy flavor profile makes them delicious in just about everything: yogurt, salads, salsas, desserts, you name it! Thanks to my Grammy, I’d have to say the best way to enjoy strawberries is to drizzle a little bit of honey over them. Something so simple is oh, so delicious!”
Frances Dillard
Director of Marketing and Global Brand Lead, Driscoll’s Company
“June signals hot summer days, fresh, clean eating, and the start of spending time with family and friends. With more than two out of three households consuming strawberries, this luscious treat is a key revenue driver for the produce department. Our shopper analytics confirm consumers are loyal to trusted brands and repeat purchase is core to their behavior. Driscoll’s branded destinations are typically located in front of the store to greet shoppers. For me, I eat and serve the entire berry patch. A fresh berry medley can’t be beat when entertaining.”
Ryan Scott
Chef and Entrepreneur, Ryan Scott Enterprises
“Strawberries bring with them fond memories of summer throughout the years for me. Those memories surround family gatherings when we would all sit around and nosh on strawberries. Now that I am a father, I have the opportunity to build memories like these for my daughter, and I love doing this through food. Food creates special opportunities to create moments that add to the story of our lives. Strawberries have a flavor and appearance that evoke a universal joy, in my opinion, and the number of ways you can both tap into their versatility in dishes and their health benefits is endless. The work I am doing to build recipes with California Strawberries is evidence of that. My advice? Keep them center stage throughout the summer and keep summer around by adding them to your basket throughout the year.”
