Ants and yellow jackets aside, a picnic wouldn't be a picnic without paper plates and disposable cups and cutlery. And it wouldn't be summer if at least one endcap in the local supermarket wasn't piled high with picnicware to commemorate the height of the picnic season. Those endcaps and displays are helpful in building summer sales of paper goods, retailers told SN.
"We always put together a picnic or summer display that includes paper plates, cups and disposable cutlery, among other grocery and seasonal items. We merchandise that around major summer events like July Fourth and Memorial Day," said Elwood Whitfield, grocery merchandising coordinator at Harvest Foods, Little Rock, Ark.
Disposable plate sales typically pick up in the summer at Scolari's Warehouse Markets, Sparks, Nev., according to buyer Donna Gann. "Our paper plates usually sell better in the summer," she said.
"We usually merchandise them with displays that are kept up for most of the summer, and we advertise the plates in our circulars more often during the
summer months."
Heinen's also promotes picnicware more during the summertime, said Joe Czerwien, a buyer and merchandiser at the Warrensville Heights, Ohio-based chain. "In the summer, we advertise a lot more and display a lot more, especially around the summer holidays," he explained.
"We find that our sales of paper plates do increase in the summer. In our region of the country, paper plates and related products are still a very seasonal business for us because of the weather," Czerwien said.
John Boisell, vice president of advertising, merchandising and marketing at Martin's Super Markets, South Bend, Ind., said his chain often uses "in-and-out" merchandisers for picnicware.
"We had a promotion on our plastic goods at the end of March and the first part of April. We did fairly well with them.
"In the summer, we find that the basic white plates are the highest-volume tableware items. But when you get into the promotional items, we find that our customers like a little color or a little bit of flowers," he said.
The backdrop of summertime creates opportunities for themed displays and cross-merchandising with disposable plates and utensils, noted Roger Burks, senior vice president at The Mad Butcher, a nine-unit operator based in Pine Bluff, Ark.
"We try to do a lot of tie-ins with paper plates because we think that is very important. When you think of paper plates and the spoons and the forks, you naturally think of a picnic, and we try to get a picnic-type theme going," he said.
Magruder Inc., Rockville, Md., also finds picnic-themed displays useful in moving paper plates, according to Mark Polsky, senior vice president.
"We try to put at least a small summertime display in each store, with paper and foam plates, charcoal and everything that goes along with it, including straws and value packs of cutlery. I'll advertise the paper plates about four times during the summer, and we get a little bump in sales of paper plates and other related products as a result," he said.
"Normally, the standard paper plate, the Dixie plates with the borders around them, sell well all year. But during the summer, the traditional 100-count white paper plates -- the ones you have to use three of or they don't work -- are the best sellers," he added.
Wonder Market Cos., Worcester, Mass., uses a combination of endcap displays, prepacked shippers and increased advertising to boost picnicware sales during the summer.
"We find some seasonality with paper plates; most of our sales are during the period from May through September. We also find that we have heavier sales of the premium products starting a little earlier in the season, before Memorial Day. We think that is primarily because of graduations and other social events," said Emily G. Holdstein, senior vice president.
According to A.C. Nielsen, Schaumburg, Ill., consumers are finding more uses for disposable dishes, cups and utensils. For the 52 weeks ended Dec. 10, supermarket sales of disposable dishes rose 5.2%, to $557.9 million. Disposable cups inched up 1.2%, to almost $265 million. Sales of wooden and plastic utensils jumped 6.6%, to $62.4 million, in the same period.
An official at a leading disposable tableware manufacturer who did not wish to be identified said the plate category is exhibiting "moderate" growth, while cups and napkins are declining.
"Summer is a critical season for paper goods. We're focusing on, as always, getting displays with a good offer to move product," he said, adding that his firm is promoting multipacks of prepriced items this year.
"Sales of paper tabletop items clearly peak in the summer, but it is not as seasonal a category as you would think. Mainly, the way we promote the product tends to contribute to some of the seasonality. Consumer usage is a little more even throughout the year than you would think, based on the way we promote it," he said.
Likewise, several retailers said the versatility of disposable plates, cups and cutlery is bolstering sales throughout the year, especially around major holidays.
"While our paper plates sell very well during the summer, we find that paper plates and other related products do very well during the fall holidays, too," Whitfield of Harvest Foods said. "They sell well for Thanksgiving and around the football season. Paper plates used to only be sold during the summer months, but that's not true anymore. Now they are a year-round item."
A buyer for a leading California chain who declined to be named agreed that disposable items show year-round strength. "Sales of paper party goods pick up around all of the key holidays. Sales pick up from Halloween, now that it is becoming an adult holiday, through New Year's. The sales then pick up quite a bit around Super Bowl time, too," the buyer said.
"I also buy for Ambassador Cards, and I'm doing a lot on that end as far as seasonality because that is a guaranteed product. We don't have a problem of making sure that we sell it, and usually their quantities are pretty reasonable with the display and everything."
Compared with other stores, the chain has a fairly large tabletop section, the buyer added. "It is usually located in the paper goods aisle, and we also include matches and toothpicks in there, too. So it is kind of like a little party center.
"In cutlery, we've gotten to the point now where we just have one brand, our private label. You really don't need more than one brand. You need the small size and then the more durable size," he explained. "It used to be, years ago, that you needed to carry two or three brands. But it is not really necessary, and it takes up a lot of room on the shelf that could be used for selling other things."
Promotional support for picnicware is a lot easier to come by in the summer, according to Czerwien of Heinen's. "There is more activity and a lot of ad money from manufacturers that is available during the summer that normally isn't during other times of the year, except for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter," he said. "At those times, and during major summer holidays, there is always additional funding available.
"There is more affinity for designs and colors and patterns, which command a better margin than plain white plates, but the margins are relatively high on paper goods to begin with," he added.
When it comes to price, most retailers contacted by SN said that although the inexpensive white paper plates continue to post strong sales, shoppers are also finding favor with the more expensive designer and holiday-themed plates and cups.
"A 100-count cheapie plate that is priced right will do extremely well," said Whitfield of Harvest Foods. "But we also do extremely well with the high-priced fancy plates. We find that they attract a different consumer, with families with children buying the more inexpensive plates."
The basic, inexpensive white paper plates continue to be the best seller at Wonder Markets, Holdstein said. "Quality concerns do not seem to have a major impact on the category. The inexpensive paper plates are now well over 50% of our sales," she said.
"In our department, we find that private label is the biggest factor, followed by Dixie, which also does a major business. After that, the other brands are really only very small factors," she explained.
However, Wonder Market also has been increasing the number of designer plates and cups it stocks. "We've expanded our selection of children's items, especially plates, to cater to the children's party market. As a result, we have added several new items," Holdstein said.
The Mad Butcher's Burks said foam plates sell the best in his region of Arkansas. "It really doesn't matter as far as brand. We do a tremendous job with our private label, but Hefty is a darn good seller, too," he said.
But retailers in other parts of the country found that environmental concerns have caused a switch back to paper at the expense of foam and plastic.
"We used to carry the Solo brand. But we no longer carry the plastic; we only carry the paper now. It seems like people are getting away from the plastic and going back to paper again, primarily for environmental reasons," said the California buyer.
Foam plate sales are also being surpassed by paper plate sales at Wonder Market, Holdstein said. "We think that is primarily because of environmental concerns.
