Monthly Archives: November 2017

Happy Healthy Holidays with Bananas!

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From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, this is the season for parties and celebrations. Cocktail hours to brunches and all other social activities brings indulgence and the dreaded holiday weight gain. On top of that, the holidays can be stressful when you factor in travel, hosting and constantly being on the go. This year, protect your waistline and your immune system by taking a simple preventative measure: eat more organic bananas!

Organics Unlimited bananas have 16% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of dietary fiber; this helps keep digestion regular and maintains low blood sugar. One banana also has an impressive 34% of the RDI of vitamin B6, essential in helping the body produce hemoglobin, antibodies, immune response and maintain a proper blood/sugar ratios.

Positioning bananas as a healthy addition to your holiday snacking will resonate with your customers. Here are a few more tips to share with your customers:

  • Provide printed, healthy breakfast and snack recipes to customers. Whether a busy weekday or a holiday weekend hosting special guests, these breakfasts and snacks can provide a break from heavy holiday foods.
  • To prepare for holiday parties and visitors, more customers will be making more trips to the grocery store during the month of December. Add grab-and-go stations near cash registers to offer customers single bananas as snacks or quick breakfast. You can also cross-promote bananas by pairing them with other holiday foods.
  • Children especially need to get lots of nutrients this time of year as their immune systems fight off colds and the flu. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), children between the ages of 2-3, 4-8 and 9-13 should consume 1, 1- 1.5 and 1.5 cup(s) (respectively) of fruit per day. By cross-promoting bananas and gearing organic banana merchandising specifically toward youth, you can not only enhance your store’s produce section and help increase sales, but also help ensure that children receive the recommended daily levels of fruit.

 

  • To learn more about our organic bananas and how you can offer Organics Unlimited and GROW organic bananas in your store, please visit com. You may also follow Organics Unlimited on Facebook and Twitter for more news.

Organic Bananas and the Online Industry

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Retailers have seen that eating habits have migrated.  A much larger portion of the population is now mindful of healthy eating with a focus on organic and a concern for the ingredients in packaged foods.

Another trend on the upswing is online buying. Economics have put a squeeze on smaller retailers who have less control over increasing overhead, so markets have consolidated.  Now we’re facing the challenge of online shopping and what that means to the purchase of fresh produce.  Online shopping for produce can include everything from produce specialty sites to CSA memberships to the ability of consumers to do all their grocery shopping digitally.  It can also include the produce that comes in those boxes of food that get delivered in menu sized portions to cook gourmet meals on your own.

What does this mean for the produce industry? While there’s not one answer that fits all situations, these shifts cannot be ignored, particularly in light of the fact that 30% of Millennials (age 21-34), 28% of Generation Z (age 15-20) and 22% of Generation X (age 35-49) say they are already ordering groceries online for home delivery.

While we can definitely say that online food purchasing is a growing trend, we need to also be cautious about not discarding our current programs for retail sales and consumer communication.  There are, and will continue to be, many people who like to go into a supermarket and buy what they want to go home and cook immediately.  Traditional stores are still less expensive. They offer sensory experiences such as the aroma of the bakery and the color and texture of the produce.   They offer the ability to taste, touch and pick individual pieces of produce.  And many consumers just enjoy the experience of shopping for their fresh produce.

Traditionally, fresh produce is the main driver for consumers in finding a supermarket.  With this being the most important part of the equation for 75% of consumers, the online experience will need to provide extremely good quality at competitive pricing to thrive in this arena.  And the more that individual produce companies can work with online retailers to find good solutions for the online buyer, the more this will become a workable solution for everyone.

To learn more about our organic bananas and how you can offer Organics Unlimited and GROW organic bananas in your store, please visit OrganicsUnlimited.com. You may also follow Organics Unlimited on Facebook and Twitter for more news.