Apr 18, 2016

Pazazz apples drive winter retail sales

Pazazz, a new variety from the Honeybear Brands varietal development program, debuted in more than 350 new retail locations across North America in the first quarter of 2016. The new variety has been selling out in record time in many markets, Honeybear Brands said.

Pazazz made headline news in Atlanta; Denver; Des Moines; Halifax, Canada; Lexington; Miami; Salt Lake City; and the Twin Cities, the company said. These markets were selected by Honeybear to conduct special in-store demos and gather feedback from both consumers and retailers before Pazazz reaches national distribution, expected by the start of 2017.

Pazazz is harvested in mid-October and sold December through March, a retail window after traditional apple sales peak. The variety is positioned as a new premium apple designed to help retailers bring consumers back to their apple aisles at a time of year when really flavorful, crisp apples can be difficult to find, the company said. In doing so, Pazazz brings a much needed lift and momentum to the apple category in early spring, according to Honeybear Brands.

Honeybear sampled Pazazz in more than double the number of stores of 2015’s demo program. Participating states included: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Halifax (Canada), Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, North and South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington where Honeybear worked with leading retail banners that included Central Markets, Coborn’s, Cub Foods, Fry’s, Harp’s, HyVee, King Soopers, Kroger, Lunds & Bylerlys, Loblaws, Publix, Reasor’s, Smith’s, QFC and Wegmans.

Pazazz was originally developed by Doug Shefelbine from Holmen, Wisconsin, and is grown by Honeybear Brands and grower partners in Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin, New York, and Nova Scotia, Canada. The variety is a descendent of the Honeycrisp. Find out more by visiting the Pazazz Apple website.