PRODUCE TALK CINCO DE MAYO IS MAY 5 TH. Good Selling!! Toebben Drive, Independence, KY

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1 10295 Toebben Drive, Independence, KY PRODUCE TALK April 16, 2015 Volume 23 Issue 16 CINCO DE MAYO IS MAY 5 TH The 5 th of May is celebrated in the United States among the Mexican-American population, especially in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and continues to grow in several other states as the Hispanic population continues to grow. They celebrate to commemorate the overthrow of the Mexican Imperial Monarchy headed by Maximilian of Austria. The Imperial Monarchy was imposed from 1864 to 1867 on Mexico by Napoleon III, Emperor of France (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte) and the Mexican conservatives Club de Notables. The creditors in Europe (England, Spain and France) decided intervention was needed to collect the debts. Unbeknownst to the other two, France had its own agenda. France wanted to dispose of the Mexican Constitutional Government and set up a monarchy favorable to France. Napoleon III, Emperor of the Second French Empire had grandiose plans to impose a monarchical government upon the nations of Central and South America. European powers landed and occupied Veracruz, Spain arrived first. By April 11, 1862 after realizing France s intent, England and Spain withdrew their support. Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day. It celebrates the day in 1862 when 4000 Mexican soldiers defeated a French army of 8000 led by Napoleon III. Cinco de Mayo is the perfect time to reach out to the Hispanic population and try to capture extra sales. Even though Cinco de Mayo means much more to Mexican Hispanic population, if we promote the right items you will be able to reach out to not only Mexican Hispanics but Central and South America, Cuba and Puerto Rico Hispanics. Here are some good reasons why we may need to re-think our merchandising strategy. Facts about the Hispanic shoppers: The Hispanic market will grow to over 58 million people in the U.S. by This population segment is growing 4 times faster than the total U.S. population with a combined spending power of over $350 billion! Hispanics shop more frequently and spend more per trip than non-hispanics. ($112 vs. $85) More likely to cook from scratch. Quality and freshness are very important. Shop mostly evening and weekends. They are loyal to their vendors. They are price and value-conscious; rarely use coupons 60% would pay more for well-known brands. Multiple pricing is perceived as a better value Shop around for best value per piece. They buy a lot of fresh produce. Put out larger bags for more sales. 9 steps that will help you market to the Hispanic population: 1. Identify pocket or urban areas with a significant Hispanic population. If you have a 10% or more pocket of Hispanic population in your marketing area, you may want to consider a storewide marketing plan for them. 2. Determine product mix shop at small retail outlets, your competition, assess popular and local restaurants that cater to this customer base. Find out what kind of Hispanic shoppers you will be catering too. 3. Develop a merchandising plan to introduce new items to your targeted audience. Ask your Crosset merchandiser for assistance. 4. Develop a marketing and advertising plan to make your new customers aware that you value their business. (example: Spanish written signs and employees) 5. Train your produce personnel on the care and use of new items. 6. Create an atmosphere through large bulk display techniques and use decorative P.O.P such as piñata, especially for the holidays. 7. Position your store as a good value e.g. best quality at our lowest price. 8. Use familiar brands known for high quality. 9. Address the Hispanics need for respect and comfort by educating your personnel on ethnic traits, expectations and deliver!

2 WESTERN VEGETABLES AVOCADOS: The market is still up on organics, with very limited supplies on #1 product. Conventional more stable but higher markets still remain. BROCCOLI: Markets and supplies are in good shape. We re seeing quality product arrive with good color. CAULIFLOWER: Markets remain steady as do supplies. Quality remains overall good; sizing has been sporadic from larger end to some smaller size. Curd color is bright white. CELERY: Things are remaining well as supplies and markets continue overall stable. Pricing is up slightly and expected to remain tight thru May until new crop Salina s region begins. LETTUCE: Weather is making Iceberg product quality challenging. We re seeing rib bruise on all product coming in with just slight degree. This will remain for another week or two as growing conditions and weather improve. Leafy markets and supplies remain in good shape. We re seeing good quality product arriving with nice size leaves and good color and freshness. VALUE-ADDED Steady supply of conventional grown value-added items with only occasional shortage, mostly due to logistics. The supply of organic grown value-added items continues to be very irregular with shortages and quality issues occurring on a daily basis. SOUTHERN VEGETABLES BEANS: Market is off. CABBAGE: Market off a little bit. CORN: Market is the same but we ve had percentage corn for about the last week and that s all that was available. Still getting cut on corn; that should improve this weekend as it gets a little bit warmer and supplies increase and the quality also gets better. CUCUMBERS & PEPPERS: Out of Florida. Both prices are up substantially. GREENS: Prices same as last week on all greens, kale, mustard, collard, etc. ONIONS: Markets are mostly steady. Northwest jumbo yellow onions are still available with good quality. Vidalia onions are starting this week in a small way. This year s Vidalia crop is reported to be very good. POTATOES: Markets are mostly steady this week. Russets continue to be in good supply. RADISHES; YELLOW & ZUCCHINI SQUASH: Market about the same. ORGANICS BEETS: Markets are stable and quality is starting to see more insects affect the tops of the product. Conditions out west are leading to more insects being present and affect products. BROCCOLI: Supplies are still limited with little product available. Cal-O is out basically and we re sourcing from a number of supplies to ensure orders are filled. Quality has been overall good with color and bunch size. CABBAGE: We re seeing product start to move north from Florida as weather there is getting warmer and we ll soon see product arriving in a few weeks from the Carolina s. Overall quality has been nice with little insect pressure, good wrapper leaves and good medium sizing. Red is limited in the southeast so we re sourcing that from out west. CAULIFLOWER: Scarce supplies are keeping markets at an elevated level. Product quality has been overall nice; we are seeing more smaller size as shippers are harvesting what is available to fill orders. Cal-O will gap end of April for about a week. CELERY: Markets are active as supplies are very limited. Northern Mexico is currently the only region producing and is finishing. Salina s will not start until end of May/early June. We could see a gap in May for a week or longer depending upon the situation.

3 CUCUMBERS: Supplies out of Mexico are becoming much more plentiful. Markets are stable and sizing is mostly 36ct, with some 24ct. Florida is starting to have limited supplies available. GREEN PEPPERS: Supplies are scarce coming out of Mexico. The southeast is very limited as most product isn t reaching proper quality or size. Markets are up as with one main area producing is trying to cover large demand. KALES: Quality remains overall nice, but due to conditions, we re starting to see a bit more yellow hue to product as this is a growing condition/variety affect. This does not cause any quality issues, just affects appearance. LETTUCES: There is a lot of aphid pressure in the growing regions now. Almost all product is arriving with some degree of aphids in the product. This will remain for a few weeks and the product is within federal guidelines of levels. Good crisping practices should help remove all of this before product arrives on the sales floor. YELLOW SQUASH & ZUCCHINI: Supplies out of Mexico are in great shape with plentiful product. Quality should be overall pretty good. Florida still has product available with good quality. ASPARAGUS Supplies are moving north as product is now slowly coming out of California. Some import product is still coming in. Organic is now finishing in Mexico and not yet ready in California. Markets are up next week as there is limited availability. We ll look to gap on organic for a short period until new regions become available. FRUIT APPLES & PEARS: The Conventional Washington apple crop is moving along very nicely. Pricing is mostly steady and quality is excellent. Some organic varieties are getting tighter in supply driving the cost up. Imported Gala apples are getting started; Michigan apples are still plentiful and pricing is stable. Pricing is at promotable levels and supply is good. The Washington pear crop is as well as finished for the year. Quality on import pears is excellent; Bartlett Pears are coming in with high color. BLACKBERRIES: Good volume back available out of Mexico with promotion pricing. Organics remain steady with solid quality and pricing. BLUEBERRIES: Heavy volume out of Florida; pricing very attractive but rain could change market conditions to push pricing back up slightly. Early Georgia blueberry crops were damaged in early cold snap that hit region and will hamper start of supply, but overall Georgia crop is huge and will be very promotable. Organic blueberries are tight but better volume in near future. CANTALOUPES: End part of imported offshore cantaloupes but supplies are steady. Market level but look for pricing to become strong in front part of May as transition begins from offshore into new crop domestic. CITRUS: Navel oranges continue to be in good supply. Eating quality is peak of season. CLEMENTINES: Imported clementine supplies are becoming tighter as season winds down. Both quality and eating of fruit is good. California Murcott/clementines becoming scarce and quality is just average. Organics are down to last week or two. GRAPES: Market is starting to see a lot of changes in the Chilean crop. The white seedless are becoming much weaker in quality; seeing multiple quality issues mainly with ambering in color but common issue at end part of crop. They are moving into late storage premium to step up quality, such as the Lepe or Vittoria white seedless which have become available. These are very high-end large white seedless grapes, but quite costly. Reds are still pretty steady in market cost with most shipping Crimson variety; quality looks solid. Pricing is still very stable. Blacks are still available but market inching upward. HONEYDEWS: Market moving upward slightly as Mexico has not been producing heavily and offshore dews has been decreasing keeping supply levels low. RASPBERRIES: Product is now mostly coming out of the US with berry quality overall good. Weather this week will impact things as conventional supplies are much better than organic. Organics are extremely scarce with all orders being cut or pro-rated by Driscoll. This is expected to continue for at least another week.

4 STRAWBERRIES: Weather conditions are greatly affecting availability and quality of the fruit. Everything is arriving with some degree of bruising. Rain this week will not help matters so keep displays to a minimum and try to keep fruit refrigerated to ensure the longest shelf life. Organics are seeing the exact same situation. TROPICAL FRUIT LIMES: Market is on the very high end right now with very limited product coming out of Eastern Mexican growing region. Quality is fair. MANGOES: Good steady supplies now on both organic and conventional; Tommy Atkins variety. Look to promote throughout the month of April, into May. Merchandising Tips Get Ready! Florida Sweet Corn is ready to roll! We need to get displays built. Your customers have been waiting patiently since last year and this year we are promoting sweet corn as early as we can. Nothing shouts spring more than sweet corn and Vidalia onions. Below are a few tips for a successful sweet corn season: Offer shoppers the option of purchasing corn packaged or in bulk. When packaging corn, don t offer only the 3-pack, but also the 5-pack or even 9-pack for larger families. Make sure displays are always full and free from cornhusks and silk. Discourage shoppers from peeling back the husks by having a few on your display with husks already peeled back, showing the quality of the kernels. High turnover is important. Corn loses its sugar content if kept room temperature too long. Create displays that promote different ways of preparing corn (microwave, boiling or on the grill). Don t forget all the tie-ins: spray butter, salt and corncob holders. Guacamole What you need Make it 2 fully ripe avocados 1/2 cup MIRACLE WHIP Dressing 2 Tbsp. lime juice 1 clove garlic, minced Thin wheat snack crackers, tortilla chips or cut-up vegetables MASH avocados with fork in small bowl. ADD all remaining ingredients except crackers; mix well. SERVE with crackers, tortilla chips or cut-up vegetables. SPECIAL EXTRA: Top with chopped fresh tomatoes before serving.

5 CROSSET NEW ITEM & DELETION SHEET W/B: 4/19/15 ITEM # DESCRIPTION SIZE NEW ITEMS FLAX SEEDS 12/11 OZ R/S SUNFLOWER NUTS 12/8 OZ WILD BLUEBERRY VING. DRESSING 6/16 OZ 230 ORGANIC CANTALOUPES 9 CT FLORIDA PEACHES 8# ORGANIC BLUEBERRIES 12/6 OZ ORGANIC BARTLETT PEARS 12/3# PEELED GARLIC 12/6 OZ ORGANIC LADY MOON GREEN KALE 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON RED KALE 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON LACINATO KALE 24 CT 3747 ORGANIC LADY MOON GREEN LEAF LETTUCE 24 CT 3763 ORGANIC LADY MOON RED LEAF LETTUCE 24 CT 3753 ORGANIC LADY MOON ROMAINE LETTUCE 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON RED CHARD 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON RAINBOW CHARD 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON GREEN CHARD 24 CT ORGANIC LADY MOON YELLOW SQUASH 20# ORGANIC LADY MOON ZUCCHINI SQUASH 20# ORGANIC LADY MOON EGGPLANT 18# ORGANIC LADY MOON CUCUMBERS 20# ORGANIC PACKER RASPBERRIES 12/6 OZ ASPARAGUS TIPS 20/8 OZ DELETIONS VANILLA CHAI TEA 6/32 OZ ORGANIC SLEEVED GARLIC 45/5 CT NECTARINES 16# ORGANIC BLUEBERRIES 12/4.4 OZ CLEMENTINES 5# CHILEAN PEACHES 16# PAC ROSE APPLES 40# ASPARAGUS TIPS 12/8 OZ ORGANIC SPRING ONIONS 12 CT ORGANIC NAVEL ORANGES 88 CT 38# ORGANIC NAVEL ORANGES 72 CT 38# NAVEL ORANGES 113 CT 38# GOLD NUGGET MANDARINE 20# RED ONION SETS 32# WHITE ONION SETS 32# RED POTATOES 5/10# PONTIAC SEED POTATOES 50#

6 Top Cinco de Mayo items include: Roma tomatoes Avocadoes (ripe) All varieties of peppers Limes - Cilantro - Chayote Jicama - Burro or Manzano Bananas Red Bananas Plantains Papayas Corn Husk Miradol Papayas Mangoes Tomatillos Cherimoyas Feijoas - Elephant Garlic Tamarindos Yuca Calabaza Malanga Boniato Cactus Pears Passion Fruit Boiler Onions Shallots Pepino Melons Blackeyed Peas Cinnamon Sticks Pinatas By the year 2020, it is predicted that minority groups will grow to 36.3% of the population. Are you interested in their business? Meeting your customers needs is the only way you can increase your business!