Swedesboro, New Jersey-based SweeTango apple growers and packers are urging retailers to place orders to take advantage of the brand’s marketing plans. Fruit will start shipping after Labor Day, the SweeTango sales desks report.
“I don’t remember ever having as nice a crop hanging on the trees as we’ve got this year, both volume and quality,” said Scott Swindeman, SweeTango Midwest region, sales desk Applewood Fresh. “With this high quality a crop, it is going to sell itself.”
A long-time senior buyer for a regional retail leader, Applewood Fresh’s Brian Coates reported he’s seeing a great mix of fruit sizes on the trees, meaning SweeTango shippers will be able to meet all their retailers’ needs. “We’ve got customers who like larger apples, we’ll have that. We got customers who like pouches and bags, we’ll have that. We got customers who like totes, we’ll have that too,” he said.
This year, Next Big Thing is coordinating a marketing strategy with its regional sales desks that will deploy both “push” and “pull” strategies to motivate consumers to purchase. In a year when some consumers might be concerned about inflation, SweeTango hopes to prove its worth to consumers and retailers.
To alert consumers that SweeTango is back in the market, NBT is buying digital video advertisements and radio advertisements targeted to SweeTango retailers’ markets. The brand is also partnering with TikTok creators to cultivate new younger fans.
“We are really stepping up our targeted digital advertising and social media to leverage our passionate fan base, they are huge part of our marketing strategy,” said Jennifer Parkhill, NBT executive director.
Each respective sales desk will layer on its own regional marketing activities, including working with its retail partners to customize customer promotions and partnering with local influencers.
Responding to the pandemic-related rise in popularity of SweeTango’s 2-, 3- and 5-pound pouches, Stemilt Growers is testing in limited markets a four-pack featuring larger pieces of fruit that typically sell bulk; the package’s materials are sustainably sourced. The four-pack, in conjunction with an in-store display bin in some sales regions this season, preview a refresh of the brand’s shipping cartons and in-store packaging that will roll out in 2023.
To get the fruit in front of retailers attending IFPA’s Global Produce and Floral Show in Orlando in October, SweeTango ambassadors will hand out apples packaged in a single-apple pack at registration.
More information on SweeTango can be found at sweetango.com.
