CMI Rolls Out Pouch Bag of Sweet Gourmet Pears

CMI's Sweet Gourmet Pears program drove almost $900,000 in incremental dollars in a test with a major U.S. retailer, according to the company. With the fresh pear crop now being harvested, CMI is rolling out a new pouch bag for Sweet Gourmet Pears. Introduced on a test basis last year, the bag proved to be a hit with consumers, invigorating growth for pears, a category that has seen a slow but steady decline over several years. “CMI saw an opportunity to reach convenience oriented consumers with a new premium bag“, said Steve Lutz, vice president of marketing for CMI. “For years the only packages available for retailers have been low quality, discounted poly bags. We saw an opportunity to introduce a high quality pouch bag to raise consumer expectations and increase transaction size for retailers. That’s exactly what we’ve done with our new Sweet Gourmet Pears pouch.” Lutz says that the pear category is ripe for the new CMI pouch bag. Retail data shows that only 10% of pear sales occur in bags compared to nearly 50% in the apple category. “With the use of premium packaging trending upward in the produce department, our team was confident that the same consumer buying apples and other fruits in these bags would be equally interested in pears. That’s exactly what we experienced when we tested the bags last winter,” he adds. According to Katharine Grove, marketing specialist for CMI, the test was conducted late last year when CMI worked with a large eastern retailer to document consumer demand for the item but also to identify whether or not the new pouch bag lineup would cannibalize sales from existing bulk pears. Grove adds that CMI anticipated there would be some drop in bulk sales, but overall there would be growth in the category. “Results were astonishing. Not only were existing bulk sales not affected, the Sweet Gourmet PearsTM test drove almost $900,000 in incremental dollars,” she notes. Part of the sales success seen with the Sweet Gourmet Pears program was a result of the educational and usage information included on the new bag. “Our design, inspired by the natural beauty of pears, accompanied with usage and education information, was a winner with consumers in test stores. Immediately after introduction in the test retailer, the Sweet Gourmet PearsTM pouch bag became the #2 selling item in the pear category. Our retail partner not only continued with the program but expanded it to include other pear varieties,” adds Grove. This season, CMI is launching the Sweet Gourmet Pears 3-lb. pouch bag in Bartlett and D’Anjou varieties in select stores across the U.S. These new pouch bags have been designed to complement the existing Sweet Gourmet Pears program that is currently available in 2-lb. packages of Bartlett, D’Anjou, Red and Bosc pear varieties.