Fall Forecast: The Upcoming Season is Looking Delicious
OGC’s Senior Sales Manager, Kristi Yoder, shares her outlook for the season:
“Fall 2020 is all about comfort food. From our favorite homemade soups to just about anything that bakes in the oven. Once the cool weather arrives, we all can be sure that home cooks everywhere are going to take it up a notch. It is important for us all to be prepared for heavy demand, not only on staple foods, but also on new specialty items that bring joy, inspiration, and interest to days and holidays ahead.”
From familiar categories like winter squash and apples to more specialized wildcrafted mushrooms and quince, there’s plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks and months!
Winter Squash – With an array of colors, sizes, and myriad uses, Winter Squash is poised to be a top selling category this fall! These curious cucurbits provide shoppers with the convenience of shelf stability, making them the perfect choice for shoppers that are making less frequent grocery store visits. All trends point to more curiosity in the kitchen as well, meaning organic beauties like Marina Di Chioggia, Black Futsu and Tetsukabuto are poised to become new favorites, while reliable varieties like Butternut, Acorn and Delicata will perform well, too! As shoppers look for sources of seasonal beauty, they’ll be drawn towards the gorgeous decorative qualities of this category as well!
Apples – Eaters have taken the adage “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” to heart in 2020. Apple sales have been up all year, and the introduction of numerous organic Northwest grown heirloom varieties is the perfect way to add interest to the category. With early varieties like Orange Cox Pippen, Ribston Pippen and Cortland already available, shoppers can also look forward to Orleans Reinette, Roxbury Russet, Winesap and many more arriving over the next two months. Keep apple enthusiasm and sales going by building flowing displays with multiple varieties in all colors and sizes, using solid colors (red, green, gold) as color breaks between similar-looking streaked and striped varieties.
Berries – While berries might not come to mind immediately when shoppers hear “fall” there are two stand-outs in the autumn berry category: Kiwi berries and Cranberries. With kiwi berry available now and cranberries being harvested from the bogs in October, fall is a perfect time to diversify the berry section in your produce department! Kiwi berries, rich in vitamins and antioxidants are the perfect flu-season snack to help fend off those sniffles! Not just for holiday eating, Cranberries are also high in Vitamin C and nutrient dense, making them both delicious and healthy!
Pears – The combination of an airborne virus paired (no pun intended) with the reality of the effects of wildfire smoke on air quality has thrust pears into the spotlight. Recommended by holistic health professionals to not only moisten stressed-out lungs, but to also prepare our bodies for the colder months, pears are a delicious and healthy snack this season. While organic Bartlett is a perennial favorite, entice eaters with a multitude of varieties like ruddy Red D’anjou, elegant Bosc, plump Comice and more! Educate eaters on how to test for readiness by pressing on the stem end for give. In addition, fans of crisp and crunchy fruit will find a number of Asian pear varieties that fit the bill!
Roots – While potatoes are perfect in most every way, there’s a wide world of organic root crops on their way to produce sections, like rutabagas, parsnips, celeriac and turnips, that will entice even the proudest potato fan to try something new! Encourage eaters to experience the variety of flavor and texture these root vegetables provide. Baked, roasted or mashed, and used in soups, stews or casseroles, fall root vegetables are sure to expand and enhance every home cook’s kitchen repertoire this fall!
Greens – Locally grown greens of all kinds thrive in cooler temps and the autumn harvest is a time of abundance, providing shoppers with the color, fiber and flavor they’re looking for. Fall favorites like organic Kale, along with Chard and Collards are of course expected to sell well. In addition, this is definitely the year to introduce eaters to more unusual varieties! The Chicory family, which includes Escarole, Endive, Radicchio and other bitter greens has been gaining in popularity recently, with this season’s shoppers primed to pick more adventurous varieties. Stock up on bitter greens to find out how sweet they really are, and wow shoppers with their array of colors, patterns and textures!
Wildcrafted Mushrooms – Fall welcomes the wild mushroom harvest and flavor-loving seasonal eaters are sure to be eagerly anticipating these wildcrafted short-season gifts from the forest! From Chanterelles and Lions Mane to Matsutake there’s a variety of wild mushrooms to enhance any dish. Merchandising wild mushrooms in a towering mountain with delicious recipe ideas is a great way to drive sales across the entire produce department. Planting the seeds of ideas for mushroom-based meals – from delightful soups to mashed potatoes with gravy, a mushroom-stuffed Acorn squash or a seasonally-inspired stir fry, encourages shoppers to stock up on all the ingredients to make their culinary dreams come true.
Pomegranate – Self-care and superfoods are two trends that aren’t letting up anytime soon. Organic Pomegranates, high in antioxidants that reportedly offer both healthy heart and cancer-busting properties, top the list of fruits to incorporate into health-forward routines. These delicious jewel-toned fruits are great for adults and children alike as plucking their juicy seeds from beneath their skin provides a moment of meditation or encourages some fine motor skill practice for pint-sized fingers. Eaten straight from the fruit, scattered over salads or middle eastern-inspired faire, encourage shoppers to try Pomegranates this fall!
Persimmon – Another short-season crop that is truly only available in Autumn is the beloved persimmon. From the squat and plump organic Fuyu to the supple and sweeter Haychia variety, there are a lot of uses beyond fresh eating for shoppers to explore with persimmons. From cakes to puddings, dried and preserved, or even as part of a beautiful seasonal centerpiece, persimmons present a new and exciting category for many shoppers. Educate your customers that Fuyu can be eaten Firm, while Hachia Have to be soft. Try merchandising these orange-hued gems alongside other fall favorites like pears and grapes to make them more accessible to first-time eaters!
Quince – Resembling pears and apples but with a decidedly different texture, flavor and use, organic golden Quince are a fun fruit for shoppers to experience only in the fall. Exceedingly firm and astringent when raw, once cooked, Quince are sweet, tender and floral with a gorgeous rosy hue. High in pectin, Quince are ideal for jam making or into a traditional Spanish paste called Membrillo which is delightful alongside a wedge of Manchego cheese, which happens to be a great cross-merchandising idea! Quince are also known for their heady scent which imbues any room with an alluring aroma. Shoppers can ornamentally display them on a shelf or into a bowl on a countertop to lightly scent their home!
The next couple weeks mark a pivotal shift for merchandising, as summer crops wind down and we embrace the season change by promoting the beauty and bounty of autumn! With nearly two full months until eater’s attention turns whole-heartedly to Thanksgiving, Kristi encourages everyone to “use this time to showcase and promote all the variety that the fall season has to offer!”