With the COVID-19 virus floating around, Michigan apple grower-shippers say they will make sure there is plenty of bagged product available.
“We are seeing an uptick in bagged apple sales,” said Diane Smith, executive director of the Lansing-based Michigan Apple Committee.
“The pandemic has seen increased movement of fruit and vegetables, and we’re seeing a trend of increased movement of packaged product, as well.”
It’s not unusual to see displays of bagged Michigan apples, though, Smith said.
“Many varieties of Michigan apples are sold this way,” she said. “It’s important to us to be responsive to consumer demand, and I’m sure we will continue to see the packaged trend into the near future.”
Fueling that demand, marketers note, is the coronavirus.
“Bag apple sales are up with most retailers — anywhere from 25-75%,” said Brian Coates, vice president of sales and business development at Sparta, Mich.-based grower-shipper Applewood Fresh Growers LLC.
There is growing interest in larger pack sizes, as well, he said.
Sales of bagged apples spiked early in the pandemic, said Chuck Yow, director of U.S. sales and business development with Comstock Park, Mich.-based grower-shipper Michigan Fresh Marketing LLC.
“We definitely saw a sharp increase, especially initially,” he said. “Things settled back down, but when they did, it was stronger on bags than tray pack.”
Bag options aren’t new to Michigan Fresh Marketing, though, Yow said.
“We feel like we’ve always offered a lot of choice — 2-, 3- 5- and 8-pound,” he said.
“I haven’t seen any change in consumer offerings, but I have seen out of Washington some tray-pack sizes in clamshells — we’ve seen a lot of creativity out of Washington.”
The demand for bagged product will continue to grow during — and perhaps after — the pandemic, Yow said.
“Certainly, we feel the market is going to demand more bags,” he said.
“We’re not large enough to go out on a mass-marketing campaign for food safety, but we’re definitely including that in our newsletters and info to our direct customers in retail and wholesale and foodservice.”
The change to more bags is noticeable, said Ken Korson, apple and asparagus category manager for Traverse City, Mich.-based grower-shipper North Bay Produce Inc.
“I think over the last five to 10 years, people have gravitated more to the bulk apple — especially young people grab a couple of big apples and try them,” Korson said.
“The bagged business, I think, has gone down over the last few years, and I think this has just brought it back to numbers to where it was 10 years ago.”
Bags always offered a value purchase, long before the pandemic, Korson said.
“People then would pay a little more for one or two apples,” he said.
“Bulk apples are usually more expensive a pound, so it is quite a good value — around $1 a pound on bags, versus $2 a pound on bulk. You have prices ranges from $2.50 on bags to $4. Tray stuff, it’s more in the range of $1.50 to $4, depending on variety.”
While consumers are purchasing more bagged produce during the pandemic both from convenience and due to a food safety perception, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.”
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