I met with Suren the owner of Omni Foods and presented the 2009 program. Suren will promote cherries weekly because of the dollar contribution to the store. He is supportive of pushing Rainier cherries more this year because of the higher sugar.
Suren only has one store that is located in a upscale area of Weston,MA. The store size is about 20,000 to 23,000 sq ft.
He believes that when the price is over $5.99 a pound the two pound bags restrict sales. They currently will take out cherries and pack them in clam shells to reduce the dollar cost. He said, even in his upscale area they will not spend $12 for a two pound bag. However, if cherries are $2.99 a pound the 2# bag is great. My conclusion is what sales are the growers missing if the stores fail to breakdown a 2# bag. The customers is walking away because of the high dollar ring of $12. Also, with labor being tight at retail many accounts won't breakdown the 2# bags when the cost is $5.99 a pound because it is too much work.