Retailers can plan for another successful season with Zespri
From
| 27 February 2023
Overview of kiwifruit from New Zealand in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on February 24, 2023.
Zespri’s account managers will be at booth No. 621 to meet with retailers during the SEPC Southern Exposure trade show in Orlando, FL, March 2-4. The booth will showcase Zespri’s new merchandising displays with updated graphics highlighting this year’s Taste the Obsession marketing campaign. Taste the Obsession showcases the brand’s passionate commitment to sharing high-quality, refreshingly sweet kiwifruit to ignite the good in consumers’ days.
“Our campaign tells our bold, brand story of the passion and care that goes into growing our kiwifruit in an unexpected, playful way,” said Jeanne Wilson, Zespri’s head of marketing for North America. “We’re excited to build upon our growing category success as we collaborate with retailers nationwide to develop customized programs and build impactful displays for our Zespri SunGold and green kiwi.”
Kiwi is on trend and is driving category growth. Kiwi ranks as the No. 1 fastest-growing segment in the fruit bowl, outpacing total fruit by 11 points. In fact, category sales have reached $265 million over the past year, which is a growth of 14 percent over a year ago. Zespri remains the No. 1 kiwi brand over the past year with 52 percent share of the category. Zespri’s proprietary SunGold Kiwi is driving the category growth accounting for 48 percent of total kiwi category with total sales growing over $90 million over the past year.
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
Zespri remains the category leader and has leveraged best-in-class marketing efforts to drive awareness and sales for Zespri Kiwi. Due to its digital media spend, strong influencer partnerships and robust event sampling programs, Zespri has gained new households at a steady rate across the U.S. and accelerated in areas where it has strong synergy between marketing support and sales partnerships. With every increase in penetration of new households, Zespri is driving incremental value to the category. To continue the momentum, Zespri is running digital programs again this year, including social, email, online video and display advertising in addition to driving trial for SunGold Kiwi with Ibotta, digital coupons and event activations.
“The SEPC trade show is an ideal opportunity for retailers to meet with Zespri’s team to start planning for the season before our fruit ships in May,” said Wilson. “Shoppers are unique so one program doesn’t work across all regions. We are available to customize programs designed for each retailer’s specific shopper needs. We are excited to help retailers grow their sales by using our marketing resources, displays, and knowledge of merchandising and promoting kiwifruit that is the most profitable
for them.”
The synergy between Zespri’s marketing efforts and in-store placement will help drive retail sales. “The bold, attention-grabbing graphics on the display tie into the consumer campaign, which will be cohesive across all marketing channels,” said Wilson. “Zespri Kiwifruit is a high growth, everyday item now, and it sells best when it is prominently displayed because it adds incremental sales to the produce department. It is no longer viewed as an exotic fruit. Shoppers can’t get enough of this nutritious and deliciously sweet fruit.”
Retailers saw a 92 percent lift in sales average when a display was paired with a TPR. Zespri’s SunGold Kiwi display sales showed an increase of $6 million compared to last season. For even more sales, retailers are encouraged to move Zespri SunGold Kiwi adjacent to berries. This could result in a 64 percent total fresh fruit sales uplift driven by higher basket spend, based on a third-party merchandising study. Moving kiwis next to berries does not negatively impact berry sales; it drives total department sales.
This season, Zespri is inviting both retailers and consumers to join in on the growing “obsession” with kiwi. Retailers and industry leaders are encouraged to stop by booth No. 621 to see the new merchandising displays, meet with the team and start planning for a successful 2023.
The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.
Access the original article with this (Link)
