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Pear Bureau promotes product with ‘juicy’
premium
Custom pear slicer cuts unit costs,
allows expanded distribution
Objective
The Pear Bureau Northwest, an organization
devoted to promoting Oregon-and Washington-grown pears,
wanted to increase sales of their members’ high-quality
fruit and make pears more convenient to eat.
Challenge
The Pear Bureau had been giving
away pear slicers with purchase for many years, but the
high cost of the existing metal slicer was forcing the
organization to limit quantities and distribution. So
the Pear Bureau asked Milmour to engineer a high-quality
plastic slicer that delivered the same function, but at
a lower unit cost.
Solution
Working closely with the Pear Bureau,
Milmour developed a custom pear-colored slicer that cost
one-third as much as the old slicer, and was strong enough
and sharp enough to easily cut through ripe pears. Embossed
on the rim is the Pear Bureau’s tip for selecting
the perfect pear: “Check the neck for ripeness.”
Special in-store and on-location promotions were scheduled
for the key pear selling months —November and December.
Success
Lower per-unit costs allowed the Pear
Bureau to widen distribution of the slicer beyond in-store
co-op marketing and via the organization’s Web site.
To date, the slicer has been offered at several non-traditional
locations, including gift basket retailers and airline terminal
restaurants. The organization says that the slicer promotion
helped drive additional retail sales. And it credits the
new distribution channels for helping increase pear consumption
overall. |
