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PHOTO COURTESY OF USA ONIONS<br />
“I always like to see onions promoted like<br />
an apple or an orange,” says Wada’s Vlahandreas.<br />
“Get it out there on the shelf and stack<br />
it nice and neat and promote it with what’s<br />
going on at the time. If you’ve got barbecues<br />
going out there, you put it close to the corn<br />
and the tomatoes. If you have some by the<br />
meat department, that never hurts.”<br />
“Cross promotions with other departments<br />
can be successful,” says Anthony Mazzuca,<br />
director of commodity management at Salinas,<br />
CA-based Tanimura & Antle. “Onions are not<br />
typically displayed in refrigerated units at the<br />
store level, which opens up the possibility of<br />
displaying them in conjunction with promotions<br />
in other departments.”<br />
THE POWER IN DISPLAYS<br />
Onion displays are effective tools for<br />
retailers who keep three key factors in mind, as<br />
Myruski at Myruski Farms advises: “Make sure<br />
they have good ventilation, are kept at room<br />
temperature and keep them dry.” To achieve<br />
these conditions for proper onion displays,<br />
Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee<br />
suggests colorful POS and recipe suggestions<br />
in store to encourage onion sales.<br />
start replacing half of them with healthier<br />
produce-based snacks. The produce aisle needs<br />
to become the place to start when planning<br />
those munchie menus.”<br />
Shuman has research to back up the power<br />
onions have to drive sales of other commodities.<br />
“Research we’ve conducted with Nielsen<br />
Perishables Group indicates sweet onions drive<br />
sales of a variety of items. Consumers with<br />
sweet onions in their carts are more likely<br />
to purchase produce such as peppers, celery,<br />
tomatoes, mushrooms and bagged salad as<br />
well as fresh meats, such as beef and chicken.”<br />
Over the summer, Shuman Produce partnered<br />
with different brands both inside and<br />
outside of the produce department. Packaged<br />
salads, refrigerated salad dressings, tomatoes,<br />
peppers, potatoes and meats are all a part of<br />
their on-pack coupon program. “We ship bags<br />
of our RealSweet Vidalia onions to participating<br />
retailers with a coupon booklet already<br />
attached to the front of each bag. Along with<br />
offers from each of the partner products, each<br />
retailer-specific coupon booklet features a<br />
recipe including all of the items. The consumer<br />
gets the added value of a meal solution along<br />
with discounted ingredients, while the retailer<br />
has a built-in cross merchandising tool that<br />
results in a larger basket at check-out.<br />
PRODUCE BUSINESS / AUGUST 2016 / 75
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