FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 4, 2007
www.stemilt.com
Contact: Roger Pepperl
Marketing Director
Elmo spreads the good news about cherries at more retail outlets this summer
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The positive start to Washington's cherry season was the perfect red-carpet rollout for red, furry and lovable Elmo and his cherished bowl of Stemilt cherries.
In its third year, the Sesame Workshop and Stemilt Growers' partnership to promote cherries using Elmo has been embraced again by retailers nationwide, according to Stemilt Marketing Director Roger Pepperl.
Pepperl said the program has garnered widespread acclaim from consumers and retailers for its nutrition messages and appeal to families. The promotion includes ad slicks, 11-by-7 display cards, and a cherry merchandising unit that features Elmo dancing with a bowl of cherries.
The display can be separated into four total pieces allowing retailers to move parts of the unit into different areas of the store. Mylar Elmo balloons add a celebratory touch, and the display dishes up a healthy dose of cherry information with nutrition messages outside the unit.
"We've distributed 3,250 merchandising units, which is 750 more than last year," Pepperl said. "That increase is due to the strong sales created in the past by this program."
Stemilt will have ample supplies of cherries well into the first week of August, Pepperl said. Stemilt is the largest cherry shipper in the nation and one of the primary Washington producers of the state's latest-harvesting cherry varieties, such as Sweetheart, Skeena, and Staccato.
Stemilt's numerous high-elevation orchards located as high as 3,200 feet above seal level provide cooler temperatures that delay harvest. Coupled with the late-season cherry varieties grown in those locations, Stemilt can sustain cherry shipments later into the summer than any other Northwest shipper, Pepperl said. With the quality of the Washington crop this year, Pepperl forecasts a healthy manifest of large-size cherries well into August.
"We're seeing higher brix, more firmness, and larger size on average this season, and that trend should continue through the late-season fruit," Pepperl said. "By using the Elmo promotion retailers can maintain strong sales through the end of the supply."