Tree-ripened peaches from California’s San Joaquin Valley were shipped by air to four Gelson’s stores in the Los Angeles region, and the experiment was hailed as a success.
The Giumarra Cos., Los Angeles, shipped henry III variety peaches in a Cessna airplane from Reedley Municipal Airport on Aug. 7, arriving about an hour later at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, according to a news release. From there, the fruit went to Gelson’s stores in Valley Village, Sherman Oaks, Century City and Pacific Palisades.
“As a grower, it is exciting to be able to offer consumers a piece of tree-ripe fruit the way nature intended,” Tim Thiesen, grower for the Giumarra Cos., said in the release. “This technology helped us swiftly bring a local farmstand experience to grocery stores more than 200 miles away.”
John Corsaro, CEO of the Giumarra Cos., and John Savidan, senior director of produce and floral for Gelson’s, were on hand to see the plane’s arrival.
“Giumarra was established by a grower family with the aim to share delicious, high-quality fruit with the world,” Tim Riley, president of the Giumarra Cos. said in the release. “We are uniting our founding values with a commitment to exploring new logistics platforms as we continue to expand our service capabilities. This test with Gelson’s proved successful and we look forward to future experimentation with this technology.”
At the Gelson’s stores, the peaches were promoted with point-of-sale materials featuring airplane mobiles and signs highlighting the fruit’s tree-ripe flavor and “flown fresh from the farm” quality, according to the release.
Gelson’s also shared messages with social media followers using geo-targeted digital marketing, according to the release.
“We are excited to be the first retailer in Giumarra’s test to offer this exclusive summer fruit to our loyal shoppers at select store locations,” Rob McDougall, president and CEO of Gelson’s, said in the release. “Our customers have come to expect Gelson’s to be on the leading edge of grocery innovation, and we are pleased to bring a new offering in the produce department that utilizes airplane technology to deliver enhanced flavor.”
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