Jewel-Osco named Pear Retailer of the Year

ORLANDO, Fla. — Pear Bureau Northwest recognized Jewel-Osco as its Pear Retailer of the Year at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Oct. 20.

Kathy Stephenson, marketing communications director for the pear bureau, said Jewel-Osco saw its efforts with pears rewarded as sales rose even in a season with less volume.

“They certainly embraced our training programs,” Stephenson said. “They communicated about flavor and how their conditioned fruit has better flavor and trying to talk about those flavor profiles. They did that with T-shirt advertising, billboard advertising, (and) they embraced Heart Health Month, which is an important time for boosting pear sales.”

Scott Bennett, produce sales manager for Jewel-Osco, said in a news release that pear sales also benefited from keeping the fruit front-facing in high-traffic areas.

The retailer executed a number of other best practices recommended by the pear bureau, including sampling multiple varieties and putting pears on ad, per the release.

Pear Bureau Northwest also recognizes Giant Eagle, Hannaford, Tops Friendly Markets and Walmart as 2018 Pear Category Leaders.

Previous winners of Pear Retailer of the Year are Sprouts Farmers Markets, Wegmans, Publix, Ingles, Meijer and Demoula’s Market Basket.