If there’s a trend in berry packaging, it almost certainly has to do with size and value.
Gourmet Trading Co., Los Angeles, has new pack styles for its large-sized SuperBlues blueberries, said Julia Inestroza, marketing director.
The berries are available in 5-, 10-, and 16-ounce packs. Its regular blueberries are packed in 4.4-, 6-, 18-, 24-, and 32-ounce clamshells.
Inestroza said the new SuperBlues pack options offer more choices to customers and should help increase retailers’ profits. Retailers can offer the price points that are similar to those for regular blueberry packs.
“We feel these new sizes will really help drive sales,” Inestroza said.
Inestroza said Gourmet Trading also plans to push sales of its larger-sized packs of regular blueberries this season.
Cindy Jewell, marketing director, California Giant Berry Farms, Watsonville, Calif., said many retailers are stocking a variety of pack sizes in the berry category.
In particular, retailers are adding bigger packs, including 2-, 3-, and 4-pound containers, to compete with club stores and to add incremental sales, she said.
Michelle Deleissegues, marketing director for Red Blossom Farms, Los Olivos, Calif., said 3-pounders are becoming more popular for strawberries.
Summertime is a good time for large pack sizes because consumers who buy berries for picnics, barbecues and other events can buy one big pack instead of buying several 1-pounders, Jewell said.
“It’s a bigger ring at the register,” Jewell said. “And it moves more fruit through the system more quickly than handling 1-pound packs.”
Nolan Quinn, berry category director, The Oppenheimer Group, Vancouver, British Columbia, said pints are still the primary pack for blueberries, but there’s a trend toward pushing larger packs as blueberry acreage increases.
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