Gong xi fa cai and best wishes for a prosperous Lunar New Year to all who are celebrating!
Chinese New Year 2024 falls on Saturday, February 10th, 2024, and celebrations last up to 16 days. Chinese New Year marks the transition between zodiac signs: 2024 is the Year of the Dragon; 2023 was the Year of the Rabbit.
Did you know that Citrus is considered a prized staple of Chinese and Lunar New Year festivities? It is traditionally given as a gift symbolizing good luck and prosperity in the future.
As more consumers turn to citrus to help them celebrate the Lunar New Year, retailers could create opportunities to provide value to customers with relevant offerings.
Sunkist for example has created a limited-edition Year of the Dragon-themed 10-pound carton in the USA to help keep the citrus category at the forefront of longstanding celebrations domestically and across Asia.
In Chinese culture, the dragon holds important significance as it is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac representing good luck, strength and health. The ‘Year of the Dragon’ cartons and matching merchandising program feature an authentic Chinese design with bold, custom illustrations printed with a focus on red and gold colours. With the growth of this program, Sunkist has continued to expand its offerings. The 10-pound cartons can hold either Navel oranges or Cara Cara oranges and new this year, the company has exclusive packaging for select retailers. Its display bins are a way to highlight in-season conventional or organic varieties, including Pummelos, Blood oranges, lemons, California mandarins, Minneola tangelos and grapefruit.
“According to Circana, season-to-date citrus is trending ahead of last year, outpacing total produce and fruit,” said Cassie Howard, sr. director of category management and marketing. “As we’ve seen the building up of consumer demand towards specialties, the Lunar New Year shopping season is a great event for retailers to promote in-stores to keep citrus top of mind.”
A recent Sunkist-commissioned study revealed when consumers were asked what advertisements incentivized direct citrus purchases, recipe inspiration and utilization tips were at the top of their lists. The company’s merchandising program features interactive point-of-sale materials with scannable QR codes providing real-time recipe inspiration to shoppers. In addition to Lunar New Year-themed merchandising bins, Sunkist also has new bin headers and header cards this season that promote flavour information and nutritional benefits, as well as trending recipes that can be interchangeable for all in-season varieties
