Pandemic Impact: People Have Changed the Way They Buy Peaches
August 9, 2021 The nation may be coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, but vestiges from the experience are not going away soon when it comes to people’s peach-buying habits, and in fact may become permanent for many, says the Executive Director of the National Peach Council, Kay Rentzel.
She shared some statistics about people’s grocery shopping habits during the pandemic, such as the fact that 60% felt their shopping habits have changed significantly, 45% increased the consolidation of shopping trips, there was a 25% decrease in unplanned trips, ordered groceries for curbside pickup went up 24% and deliveries increased 20%, and monthly trips per person to supermarkets were down 10%.
“All the previous in-store shoppers will not come back,” Rentzel says. “People just don’t go out and pick up a few things anymore. Now they plan out their shopping trips a lot better to avoid people at the grocery stores.”
Kay Rentzel
These changes in habits will stick with a lot of shoppers. For example, the net change in in-store shopping visits is expected to drop 10%, deliveries will increase 5%, and curbside pickup is expected to get an 8% boost.
Such changes have some unfortunate ramifications for peach growers and marketers because of the nature of the product, Rentzel says.
“What we miss there is people buying an impulse item. Someone walks into a grocery store, sees fresh peaches on display, and they will pick them up because of their fantastic aromatics,” she says. “We have to think outside the box on how we’re going to reach the consumer.”
Going forward, peach marketers will have to make sure they present plenty of information to online shoppers, for example. This could include recipes, nutritional information, and an emphasis on great photos. “People do eat with their eyes,” Rentzel says.
There were a few bright spots from the pandemic, such as the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
“We estimate that there were probably close to 30 million pounds of peaches sold through that particular sales arm in 2020,” she says. “It allowed us to put peaches in the mouths of a lot of families — children, adults, seniors — that hadn’t really had fresh peaches before.”
However, the peach industry can’t depend on such programs going forward. What’s critical is recognizing that things are never going to return to what was considered normal before COVID-19.
“Books will be written for years to come on what happened to the economy, the consumer psyche, and how society has changed — forever,” Rentzel says. “The marketplace has changed, the consumer has changed, and we need to change with them. It’s out of those changes we need to identify the opportunities to sell more peaches.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY
You don’t get to be the largest peach grower on the East Coast without some marketing savvy, but Chalmers Carr also knows something about keeping things copacetic on the home front as well. You just can’t beat his line about the best fruit he grows: “A peach so special I named it after my wife.”
Carr is President and CEO of Titan Farms, which he founded with his wife Lori Anne in Ridge Spring, South Carolina in 1999, according to a company press release. They grow, pack, and ship 6,200 acres of peaches, along with farming such vegetables as broccoli, bell peppers, and eggplant.
‘Lori Anne’ peaches hit the stores in late July. It is not a single variety, rather the varieties that make up the ‘Lori Anne’ Peach brand are chosen for flavor, and only the top 20% of the fruit grown at Titan Farms is selected.
Not only that, but Lori Anne Carr herself will visit the stores to do demos over the summer this year at select retailers in Minnesota and Louisiana.
Lori Anne Carr of Titan Farms holds in her hand the ‘Lori Anne’ peach.
Photo courtesy of Titan Farms
“The opportunity to interact directly with customers is genuinely something I look forward to,” she says. “We are excited to be able to travel and introduce Lori Anne peaches to new market areas for these retailers. Consumers ask the best questions, and I have the opportunity to share stories about the farm, peaches, and our family.”
Titan Farms has been producing the ‘Lori Anne’ peach for 10 years. Lori Anne peaches are consistently tasty, “with just enough fuzz,” and the press release closes with the following marketing flourish all growers could learn from.
“These peaches receive a lot of tender loving care — ripened by humid South Carolina nights, harvested by hand, and carefully selected for packing — giving Lori Anne’s peaches that special flavor — just how a peach should taste: the perfect marriage between ripeness and flavor.”
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