Exotic education: The more consumers know about specialty produce, the more they’re likely to buy

The most important aspect of selling lesser-known fruits and vegetables from around the world is information.

“Shoppers need recipes, background, information, ‘How do I use it?’ ‘What does it taste like?’ ‘How do I know when it’s ready?’” said Alex Madrigal, president and second-generation grower of Covilli Brand Organics, Nogales, Ariz.

The company sells exotic produce such as heirloom tomatoes, dragon fruit and different chilies, including poblanos and cherry bombs. Its products are sold in the U.S. and recently started making inroads into Mexico.

To educate consumers, Covilli Brand Organics supplies retailers with POP materials such as posters and recipes.

“It’s critically important for companies like us to have great partners, retailers, who can help get that message out,” Madrigal said. “They have to have the mindset that they want to educate. If you have these extra layers, the consumer has some sort of notion of the food and what they’re putting in their body. You’re dealing with a consumer who’s probably more educated, and if you want to capture the ones on the fence, you need to have that messaging out there.”

The biggest sellers for Melissa’s Produce are dragon fruit, cherimoya, passion fruit and kiwano melons; also popular are rambutans, cactus pear and papaya. The Los Angeles-based retailer provides signage and tear-off recipe pads to retailers and information such as how to prepare the produce.

Melissa’s Produce’s best-selling vegetables are fresh ginger and turmeric, Asian specialties like baby bok choy and Chinese eggplant and Latin-leaning veggies like jicama and serrano peppers.

Jackfruit has jumped in popularity in recent years, and Melissa’s Produce carries it year round. After being embraced by followers of the plant-based movement due to its fibrous texture, which somewhat mimics meat, it’s now more widely available. The company sells large whole jackfruit and 8-ounch plastic “pods” of cut-up single-servings. The whole fruits are most popular, said spokesperson Robert Schueller, because they’re consistently available throughout the year. The company is working to make the pods available all year, too.

Packaging education

Frieda’s Branded Produce goes about education in a slightly different way. Based in Los Alamitos, Calif., the company uses its own packaging to convey a lot of information. The company has actually “doubled down on packaged produce,” said Alex Jackson, director of sales and procurement, “because consumers feel more comfortable with it.” And, she said, knowing retailers want to keep their stores clutter- and signage-free, the company includes information on the packaging, such as usage information, but also includes a QR code that links back to the Frieda’s Branded Produce website for recipes and more.

The company also includes QR codes in POS signs, which lead to recipes, images, instructions on how to accomplish different dishes and links to recipe videos.

And the company uses social media. “We’re really focused in on that inspiration piece,” Jackson said. She makes sure to include a lot of color and recipes to draw consumers in. Instagram and TikTok also make it easy for consumers to learn where they can find products near them, too, she added.

Freida’s Branded Produce’s best-selling fruits are dragon fruit (with different-colored flesh), rambutan, passion fruit and star fruit.

New Seasons Market, which has around 20 stores in Portland, Ore., Vancouver, Wash., and San Jose, Calif., is a proponent of keeping signage to a minimum in the produce department. Instead, it relies mostly on staff knowledge to sell specialty produce, of which red and white dragon fruit and passion fruit are the best-sellers.

Stores encourage employees to taste the produce and talk to shoppers, while also using some POS signage “on items that will get us significant extra sales, or we’ll feature fun facts,” said Jeff Fairfield, produce buyer. “We’re pretty careful where we put signage and rely a lot on [consumer] curiosity and our staff.”

Tropical merchandising

Retailers typically merchandise their exotic fruits together to make an impact, so the POP materials can be combined, Schueller said.

3 Guys from Brooklyn, a produce market in New York, brings in global specialty produce when the price is right, said Philip Penta, co-owner. It’s not a huge part of sales but “tends to provide marketing value regarding the diversity of our inventory and social media,” he said.

“We designate a 3-[foot] to 4-foot area near the tropical produce to merchandise this,” Penta said, adding that it helps customers find it.

But it can be hard for a small retailer to source these products “for a reasonable price,” he said. If the fruits and vegetables are too expensive, he said, “people look at it and are curious, but when they see the price, they’re not interested, so I tend to wait for the price to come down. We are catering to a price-driven, educated consumer. They know when they are they overpaying.”

Seasonal sales

Melissa’s Produce gives retailers with a booklet when they team up and provides different display packages with POP materials, signage and endcap displays to use throughout the year, especially for seasonal events like Lunar New Year and Cinco de Mayo.

“Sales increase at those times, particularly on the items we focus on in the marketing,” Schueller said.

Covilli Brand Organics’ sales of exotic produce are mostly year round, but there are spikes on the shoulders of the seasons when consumers are ready for something different.

“People are tired of eating things from the winter, so we see spikes of dragon fruit in the spring and heirloom tomatoes in the fall,” Madrigal said. “The peppers are pretty steady, but you do see spikes around predictable times like Super Bowl, because people are having parties with things like guacamole, and Cinco de Mayo.”

Melissa’s Produce runs special seasonal promotions. One of its biggest is a Freak Fruit promotion that runs around Halloween. For this, it decorates exotic fruits as monsters, zombies and other scary creatures and runs recipes in stores and online showing consumers how to do so at home.

Jewish holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, are the most popular time for exotic produce sales for 3 Guys from Brooklyn, so the store sets up a specialty produce display in the fall, featuring best-selling items like dragon fruit, quince, Asian pears and cherimoya.

Specialty produce sells year round at New Seasons Market, but sales are highest at the end of winter when shoppers are tired of the limited winter fruits available, Fairfield said. “We put the most emphasis on them then.”

Celebrating the seasons and holidays is a great opportunity and Frieda’s Branded Produce loves dressing its produce to be spooky for Halloween. Specialty produce sales tend to increase around the winter holidays, too, Jackson said, because “consumers are looking to be inspired and to trade up.” In the last few months of the year, Frieda’s Branded Produce provides retailers with more marketing materials “and some retailers do a great job of creating some excitement at the display,” she said.

Frieda’s Branded Produce also creates some excitement around produce that’s not available all year. Lychees, for example, are only available in the summer, so the company delivers timely POS items to “to inform shoppers, boost sales and encourage trial and trade-ups,” Jackson said.

“We’re all about inspiring new food experiences and to give consumers something they can look forward to,” she said.