How retailers position nuts, dates for success in fresh

Whole Foods Market named medjool dates as a top trending fruit for 2023 after the fruits went viral on TikTok last spring.

Date growers and manufacturers are not surprised and continue to launch more products to appeal to American consumers.

Nut, date, and dried fruit manufacturers have found there’s a simple formula to encourage consumers to buy and eat more of their products: variety — in products and packaging.

Last year Natural Delights, Yuma, Ariz., launched two grab-and-go sizes for its dates, and those are gaining distribution, says Bridgette Weber, trade marketing manager. The snack packs, weighing 2.3 ounces and containing three pitted dates, come in Coconut and Cacao Pecan flavors. The company also offers sampler packs, which are around 1.6 ounces with two dates and include the same flavors, as well as regular dates.

And when it comes to innovation, the company also offers truffles, which have a date filling covered with chocolate in three styles (blueberry, cherry, probiotic) and larger sizes.

“The hope is that these different products and pack sizes give more access to consumers,” Weber said.

Joolies in Santa Monica, Calif., offers its dates in various forms: single-wrapped dates; three packs; 7- and 9-ounce boxes; and up to an 11-pound bulk box. In February, the company unveiled stand-up resealable pouches — 9 ounces for pit free or 12 ounces for whole dates — due to customer demand.

Other products in Joolies’ line include Jooliettes, which are chocolate-covered diced dates available in three flavors; date syrup in three flavors; and Ugglies (imperfect dates). Another launch in the first quarter of the year has been Toppers, marketed to go on items like ice cream, yogurt and salads.

“Traditionally these have been marketed as chopped dates so we decided to market how consumers can use them,” said CEO Mark Masten.

Business for Mariani Nut Co., Winters, Calif., primarily involves almonds and walnuts. Whole almonds come in flavors, including Wasabi-Soy and Sweet BBQ, and they’re whole, sliced or slivered, while the walnuts are whole, halved, in pieces or chopped.

These nuts lend themselves well to snacking occasions, says Kristen Holden, senior brand manager, and they are also a meal enhancer that can be placed in salads or yogurt bowls. However, it’s the flavors that help bring new consumers into the category, she says.

The company launched larger pack sizes in the past couple of years, too, “as consumers were looking for more pantry stocking,” she said.

To meet the needs of the on-the-go consumer, Mariani also offers 1.5-ounce tubes in whole and salted almonds, with plans this year to introduce flavors for these products.

“We’re seeing more interest in those as people get back to on-the-go lifestyles,” Holden said.

Manufacturers are also being innovative with walnuts, selling them in different sizes, especially packs of 1.5 ounces to 2 ounces, said Robert Verloop, executive director and CEO of the California Walnut Board, Folsom, Calif.

“The other thing we’re seeing more of is the expansion of the form of the walnut,” he said, referring to flavored walnut butters and spreads, and flavored roasted nuts.

Retail roundup

Since household penetration of dates is only about 8.2%, according to IRI, there is “definitely a chance to increase sales,” said Weber of Natural Delights.

And the place to do that is the produce section, where consumers already have a healthy mindset.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets merchandises a full line of nuts, dates, figs and dried fruit in its produce departments. Most are private-label products. The stores keep them grouped together, where space permits, “for a single point of destination,” said spokesperson Nicole Krauss.

“The challenge is that a lot of people believe medjool dates are a dried fruit, but they’re actually a fresh fruit, so the messaging to consumers is around that,” Weber said.

Natural Delights works with retailers on merchandising opportunities in-store, such as impulse bins at checkout counters and racks for the banana table, which places the dates within the bananas “so it is a consistent place for them,” Weber said. “These banana racks prop up the dates so you see the front of the pack with the beautiful branding.

“We’re trying to make medjool dates more of a branded focus within the store,” she continued. “We’re working with retailers to elevate the product and to put them in front of consumers in a way that can’t be missed.”

It’s important to keep dates in the produce aisle, Weber said, “so we don’t confuse consumers or lose messaging with them. It’s important that consumers understand they’re a fresh fruit.”

Joolies are also merchandised in the produce section of grocery stores, and the company works heavily with retailers.

“We like to have cart-stopping visuals, ideally with the berries or the tropical fruits,” said Amanda Sains, director of marketing. Joolies also provides shelf talkers and communicates through its packaging and floor displays about where the dates are grown, and about the farms. Toward the end of 2022, the company added QR codes on packages so people can engage with the company.

Joolies’ snack packs are also sold near cash registers, often from a dump bin, in many stores to capture impulse sales.

Mariani likes its products to be in the produce aisle, but it also likes them to be in dump-in displays around checkout stands, which are geared toward smaller, grab-and-go-style packages like 1.5-ounce tubes and 6-ounce marcona almond bags.

The company also has featured bins in front of refrigerated juice or in the cut-up fruit area of the produce section to tie in with other on-the-go products.

“Seventy percent of produce items are impulse, so a lot of it is getting consumers to throw the nuts in their bag,” said Holden of Mariani.

Mariani is working with one retailer offering a “build a better salad” program, which will feature private-label products the company produces for that retailer. “Not everyone thinks to add nuts into their salads, but they are a great addition,” Holden said, “so we’re trying to work in events like that, which inspire consumption.”

Walnuts also belong in the produce aisle, said Verloop of the California Walnut Board, where people are thinking about freshness, versatility and plant-based diets.

“Repositioning the walnuts as a healthy addition to foods makes a lot of sense,” Verloop said.

Walnuts lend themselves well to cross-promotion in the produce department, he added, with dates, berries, apples, salad ingredients and many other fruits.

“Consumers respond better to that, and it helps retailers ring bigger baskets,” Verloop said. “The versatility of the walnut can be brought out when we position the product itself in the context of healthy eating.”

At Publix, every item in the nut and date category features a QR code to take customers to the company’s website where they can find product details, nutritional information and the product’s location in the store.

The stores mostly use shippers and secondary displays to help boost sales.

“Our latest is cross-merchandising dried nuts within fresh seasonal bins that align with specific holidays and/or events,” said Krauss of Publix.