Don’t Rush the Season
We get it. September is coming. The coffee shops are rolling out the pumpkin spice lattes, and school is back in session in a few weeks. But for the produce department, there’s still a whole lot of summer left to sell.
Late summer is one of those glorious moments when the seasons overlap. New-crop apples and pears are beginning to arrive, but the volume and varietal excitement of fall produce haven’t fully kicked in yet. Meanwhile, Northwest farms are still sending us some of the best eating of the year. So don’t rush the transition.
Give shoppers reasons to eat what’s abundant.
We get it. September is coming. The coffee shops are rolling out the pumpkin spice lattes, and school is back in session in a few weeks. But for the produce department, there’s still a whole lot of summer left to sell.
Late summer is one of those glorious moments when the seasons overlap. New-crop apples and pears are beginning to arrive, but the volume and varietal excitement of fall produce haven’t fully kicked in yet. Meanwhile, Northwest farms are still sending us some of the best eating of the year. So don’t rush the transition.
Plums and grapes = lunchbox gold.
Keep prominent displays abundant with Northwest plums, grapes, melons and late-season blueberries.
Corn + tomatoes + zucchini = dinner.
Fill the vegetable tables and racks with Northwest grown tomatoes, peppers, carrots, corn and summer squash.
Melons = still absolutely worth cutting open.
The days are warm.
These are the foods shoppers are still eating and the ingredients showing up in lunchboxes, weeknight dinners and all those recipes promising to help us deal with one more zucchini.
Let fall sneak in around the edges.
Add those first new-crop apples and pears without immediately merchandising for fall. Grapes are especially good at bridging the seasons, looking right at home next to plums, figs and soon, kiwi berries.
The calendar will eventually win. Apples will hit their stride. Winter squash will pile high. Summer fruit will disappear. But not yet.
Follow the harvest, not the hype. Hold onto summer while it still tastes this good.