Retailers say bell peppers and sweet mini peppers can really brighten up a produce department.
“Peppers are a great way to add color to any display,” said Lequitte Perry, produce manager for the Food City store in Louisa, Ky.
The store, one of about 130 locations operated by Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores Inc., features red, yellow, green and orange bell peppers year-round, she said.
Perry displays them on round, 2-foot shelves, with two shelves dedicated to green bell peppers, one shelf for red peppers and one shelf with orange and yellow varieties together.
“It does make for a beautiful display,” she said.
When peppers are on ad, the store often has a second display on a table in the middle of the department.
The Remke Markets location in Crescent Springs, Ky., which is owned by Findlay, Ohio-based Fresh Encounter, displays loose red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers in a multi-deck refrigerated case with mini sweet peppers, mushrooms and veggie dips, said Dana Mills, produce manager.
If they’re on ad, she might set up a second display, like a 4- by 4-foot table.
“If I take them out of refrigeration, I like to dummy it up a bit because peppers don’t last long out of refrigeration,” she said.
Perry displays sweet mini peppers along with four-packs of gourmet bell peppers on a shelf in 2-foot sections above the loose bell peppers.
One section has sweet mini peppers and two sections have the four-packs of gourmet bell peppers.
Remke’s has three facings of 16-ounce packages of red, yellow and orange sweet mini peppers, Mills said.
They’re merchandised near the bell peppers and veggie dips.
When they’re on sale, about every other month, Mills sets up a second display, often in the meat department.
The regular price for a 16-ounce package is $2.99 or $3.99. A sale price is 2 for $4 or $1.99 each.
Sweet mini peppers usually are a good-selling item, but they sell even faster when there’s someone available to talk them up.
Peppers are a popular item in Food City’s Pick 5 section, where various items are sold at a price of 5 for $7.99, Perry said.
When bell peppers are featured, shoppers are able to pick up five three-packs for the low $7.99 price.
The $5 Friday feature is an even better value — five packs for $5.
Remke’s sells organic green bell peppers that come wrapped in cellophane with a Price Look-Up code to ensure the proper ring, Mills said.
Consumer “stoplight packs” of red, yellow and green bell peppers aren’t fast movers either.
“For this store, they’re not a big seller,” she said.
Sales of peppers are fairly consistent year-round, Mills said, but she does notice an uptick in summer when grilling season arrives.
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