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Produce Show Daily Friday, October 18, 2019 2 4 Sweet Knowledge: Four Consumer-Aligned Strategies to Increase Melon Sales Across demographics, consumers are buying melons – especially households with children. It's no surprise: melons are not only delicious and nutritious on their own, but also can jazz up salads, smooth- ies and drinks. Robinson Fresh ® conducted a U.S. consumer survey to gain insight into who is buying melons and what impacts pur- chasing behaviors. Using the responses, the company discovered several opportu- nities for retailers to increase melon sales. Only 14 percent of consumers buy melons weekly, and 87 percent of all con- sumers who purchase melons buy them one at a time. To encourage consumers to purchase more melons more frequently, retailers can do four things: 1. Create a strong display in a high-traffic area. How retailers display watermelons large- ly influences impulse purchases. To con- sumers, a clean, full display means there are plenty of high-quality melons to choose from – not just those picked over. Showcasing cut fruit is another way to make an impact, giving consumers a sneak peek at the fruit's interior color and texture. When they see the interior of at least one melon, they will likely assume that all melons in the display are of simi- lar quality. 2. Offer special promotions whenever supply is abundant. To drive incremental sales, encourage consumers to purchase multiple melons at one time. Nearly two-thirds of con- sumers said that two melons for a set price (e.g., 2/$6 offer) would entice them to purchase an additional melon. Allowing consumers to mix and match varieties can offer additional appeal to drive impulse sales. However, 80 per- cent of consumers who purchase watermelon do so for a specific holiday or occasion, like the Fourth of July or a picnic. Here, most consumers aren't price shopping: 85 per- cent said they buy watermelon at their regular store. 3. Tout peak watermelon seasons all year long. Although 70 percent of annual watermel- on volume ships May through August, 44 percent of consumers purchase melons in all seasons. Younger demographics increasingly view watermelons as an all seasons fruit; it is, as melons are grown worldwide. Staggered, complementary growing seasons make it possible to source a continuous supply of fresh mel- ons, so you can excite consumers by highlighting "peak seasons" and year- round ideas for using melons in recipes and meals. 4. Educate consumers about melon quality. Only half of melon pur- chasers expressed confidence in choosing a ripe fruit. Interestingly, consumers are much less likely to impul- sively buy melons if they aren't comfortable selecting a "good" melon – one that is ripe, juicy, flavorful or has the right texture. To help build confidence, educate consumers on selecting melons. For example, a heavier melon is likelier to be juicy. A watermelon with a creamy-yel- low splotch is at peak ripeness. The spot is where the melon sat as it ripened; if the spot is white or pale green, it may have been picked too soon. A deep understanding of purchasing behaviors, preferences and motivations can help retailers develop consumer-cen- tric strategies and help grow their busi- nesses. For more information, visit www .robinsonfresh.com. New Product Stager from Triangle Improves Produce Bagging Speeds, Efficiency With thousands of machine installations throughout North America and the world, Triangle Package Machinery Company has a reputation for applying state-of-the-art innovation to help its customers become more competitive. Founded in 1923 by Louis Muskat, who introduced a packaging machine that more than doubled typical production of the day, today the family's third genera- tion continues a tradition of innovation in packaging machinery. Triangle's packaging solutions for the produce industry include vertical form fill seal (VFFS) baggers, combination weighers and a rotary depositor/tray loading sys- tem. Many of Triangle's innovations have come from listening to its cus- tomers and helping them solve new challenges. Triangle's new product stager is one such innovation. The prod- uct stager is a new technology now available on all Triangle X-Series VFFS bagging machines, including heat seal or ultrasonic baggers. The challenge? How to eliminate or reduce product in the skirt (the top or bottom seal area of a bag), which was an issue faced by packagers of products like leafy greens or hash browns. Depending on the orientation of the product as it is discharged from scale to bagger, it may fall flat or on edge into a bag and through the bag- ger's sealing jaws. Mounted above the sealing jaws, the product stager closes on the film before the sealing jaws to catch product which would otherwise be stuck in the cross seal. This reduces leakers by reducing the occurrence of product in the seal. Triangle's product stager can be installed with heat seal or ultrasonic seal jaws. With ultrasonic seal- ing technology – a cold seal technology – the sealing jaws seal right through product, which eliminates product in the seal (PIS) by pushing it completely out of the seal area. In some cases, however, this can lead to product in the skirt. The stager allows users to close off the stream of product and catch any stragglers before the jaws close. In heat seal applications, the stager has helped customers improve produc- tion by increasing bagging speeds 20- 50 percent. One produce customer, for instance, saw bagging speeds increase from 50 to 75 bags per minute. Similar successes have been achieved with ultrasonic sealing applica- tions. About Triangle Package Machinery Company Triangle Package Machinery is a U.S. manufacturer of ver- tical form fill seal (VFFS) bag machines, combination weighers, horizontal carton- ing/bag-in-box systems, and tray loading/depositing sys- tems. Founded in 1923, Triangle is head- quartered in Chicago, Illinois, and offers a 120,000 square foot facility that houses its entire manufacturing process from raw material fabrication through com- plete machine testing and checkout. Triangle also provides superior after sales support, training, documentation and online troubleshooting, as well as spare parts service. For more information, call 800.621.4170 or go to www.trianglepackage.com.