Sprouts Farmers Markets Produce Warehouse has been named winner of Pear Bureau Northwest’s 2017 Pear Retailer of the Year award for the second year in a row.
The prize, which was presented at the PMA Fresh Summit, is based upon an exemplary record of pear category improvements in merchandising performance and sales increase. “Sprouts has again done an outstanding job of building their pear category,” said Kevin Moffitt, Pear Bureau Northwest CEO.
“On behalf of nearly 900 pear growing families in the Pacific Northwest, we congratulate the Sprouts team and truly appreciate their support and focus on pears.”
Each year, Pear Bureau Northwest partners with grocery retailers across North America to increase overall success in the pear category.
Pear Bureau Northwest praised Sprouts for pursuing many of the best practices for increased pear category sales recommended by USA Pears, including displaying two green pear varieties at once.
The retailer also gives shoppers choices by promoting multiple pear varieties, carrying two sizes of top selling varieties, increasing impulse purchases through in-store sampling, allocating plenty of the valuable front of store space to pear displays, and training personnel to improve category knowledge.
“The implementation of these best practices no doubt brought new consumers to the category while fully satisfying and pleasing their current pear customers leading to increased sales,” said Moffitt.
“Sprouts carries an incredible amount of variety for their customers. It carries Anjou, Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, Concorde, Starkrimson, Forelle, Seckel and other pear varieties as they become available,” explained Dave Howald, western regional manager for Pear Bureau Northwest.
“When they do a promotion like 'Pear-Fection', they create custom signage and build beautiful large displays to create excitement and generate sales.”
Sprouts director Chad Miller agreed that pear selection has been a key factor to success and aligns with the company's dedication to earning customer trust.
“Customers trust Sprouts for our selection of fresh produce, including pears, and that trust has grown year over year as we expand our footprint and reach even more shoppers,” he said, adding that two additional factors are “merchandising that supports the entire product mix and team members that are equipped to answer questions helps shoppers when purchasing pears.”
The bureau also praised the retailer’s knowledgeable staff “which translates to enhanced customer engagement with the product”.
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