Call: 4662
An absolutely fantastic meeting with Carlos Martinez and Curt Epperson. I was initially told that they could give me 20-25 minutes at 8:15 am, and it developed into an almost hour long meeting. We seemed to hit it off great and our discussion led from one thing to another. I feel that this was one of my best account calls yet and a bond was formed. They listened intently and we had great banter between us. I also feel that they are really going to get behind our product and push for ads and promote our product to its full extent. They appreciated that I was not just a yahoo from a company that did not know what I was talking about and the fact that I had a lot of produce background and had sat behind the desk like they had and could relate to things they were saying, as I had experienced the same things at one time that they are doing now. Again, I felt a great bond was formed and that they felt confident with me calling on them and realize the importance of Cherries to their department. I also brought up the fact that we had several different folders that we could put on their in store kiosks that could educate their customers on Cherries, especially the Rainiers. They seemed very interested in that as well. We left each other after about an hour with positive feelings and they said they looked forward to seeing me again in June to discuss the Peaches, Nectarines and other stone fruit.
Both Carlos and Curt said that Publix would not allow them to sign anything. That this was something that had been going on for YEARS, and the previous representative was aware of this and so should the Washington State Fruit Commission. They also said that their handshake should be good and that they promise to promote Cherries to obtain the dollars we are offering. THEY ALSO SAID THAT IF IT WAS A PROBLEM THAT IT WOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM IF SOMEONE FROM OUR HOME OFFICE WOULD GIVE THEM A CALL AND THEY WOULD BE HAPPY TO EXPLAIN OR CLAIRFY. I personally felt they were very sincere and that this was not anything new and had been happening for years.