Branch into berries

Whether they’re red, blue, gold or purple, berries have recently found their way into an increasing number of homes in the U.S. During the last five years, berry sales in grocery stores have increased by an average of 30 percent nationally, with strawberry sales increasing by an average of more than 55 percent, blueberries by 24 percent and raspberries by 12 percent, according to a study published by Nielsen Perishables Group. But is there a way to attract those consumers into the garden center to purchase their own berry plants? Growing and stocking berry plants may be an innovative way to draw in different customers and increase profits.

The target audience
Among the consumers who purchase berries at the grocery store, 15 percent buy them on a weekly basis. In the more specific 24 and younger age category, that percentage was much higher than average; 27 percent of those surveyed in the aforementioned study buy berries weekly or more frequently. This fact was surprising to Amelie Aust, new business development manager at Fall Creek Farm and Nursery, whose family developed the BrazelBerries berry plant line. She said that berry sales hadn’t typically seemed to be as driven by age as they are by demographic, in this case mostly middle to upper income levels, and the survey results represented a change. Growers and garden centers should take advantage of these consumer trends.

“We know that last year, over half of Americans bought blueberries. That means one out of two people walking into a garden center knows blueberries, eats them and probably likes them,” she said.

“The Berry Lifestyle”
From the informal research that she and her colleagues at Fall Creek have done, they have come up with a general profile for the behaviors and characteristics of regular berry consumers, appropriately dubbed “The Berry Lifestyle.”

“The Berry Lifestyle is something that we’ve come up with here [at Fall Creek Nursery] as a way to describe the berry consumers we’re seeing in the produce section,” Aust said. “People who buy berries tend to buy them on a regular basis, and they’ve incorporated them into their eating lifestyle. These people tend to care about health, prefer organic if it’s available, want local, and [tend] to be active. We just see that people who are eating berries tend to be people who really care about the environment, care about health and want to have a healthy lifestyle. They identify with berries, especially with blueberries. It’s almost like an ambassadorial fruit that represents the type of person they are, the type of activities they take part in.”

To understand the recent increase in young people buying berries, Aust has directly asked these young adults why they are putting the small fruits on their grocery list. Their answer has been consistent.

“They list three things to me every time, in different order, but three things: because they’re so easy, they’re super healthy and they taste great. Easy, healthy, tastes great,” she said.

The question remains: Have the same factors that influenced different groups of people to start buying berries also had an impact on berry plant sales in garden centers?

Berry plant sales thrive
Despite a general decrease in woody shrub and fruit tree sales during the last few years, most garden centers report that berry plant sales have continued to be strong. All garden centers we spoke with cited either strawberries or blueberries as their most popular berry plant, with raspberries also ranking high.

Mark Bigej, COO of Al’s Garden Center in Oregon, said that during the last five years, berry plant sales have increased by about 70 percent.

“In general, the berry plants have had a great increase in volume over the last five years,” said Amy VanDoren, manager of Landscape Design at Mahoney’s Garden Center in Massachusetts. “We have noticed that our customers are saying that they are interested in plants from which they can harvest, and berry sales have gone up quite dramatically in the last three years. We expect to be bringing them in over a longer season and in greater numbers [next year].”

Ella Maxwell, horticulturalist at Hoerr Nursery in Peoria, Ill., said they will continue to expand their berry plant offering because of the interest from customers.

In Kalispell, Mont., blueberry plant sales have remained strong, raspberry plants have sold similar numbers, but the remaining berry plant sales were static this year, said Michael Connolly, tree and shrub manager at Hooper’s Garden Center.

Growers are seeing upswings in orders, too. Duke Biscotti, sales representative at Briggs Plant Propagators, said berry plant sales have helped to compensate for slower sales of woody shrubs like rhododendron and azaleas. “In tough economic times, people plant things that they can eat,” Biscotti said.

Who’s buying berries at garden centers?
Sales have been good, but who is the typical customer buying the plants? Two groups stand out from the rest — young people, including families with children, and experienced vegetable gardeners who want to branch out into fruits.

Bigej said the typical berry plant customer “used to be the older, 50-plus demographic, people that had some space. But over the past five years, we’ve definitely seen younger people [including] younger married couples with kids, buying berries.” He attributes this shift in part to the healthy living movement, wanting to know where your food comes from and the fact that berries are simpler than other plants to grow, which makes them less intimidating for younger, less experienced gardeners. There are many similarities between these customers and the berry consumers following The Berry Lifestyle.

At Magnolia Garden Center in Seattle, Wash., owner Chuck Flaherty can’t specify just one group of customers purchasing berry plants in his store.

“It’s pretty widespread at this point. Raspberries and some of the more exotic berries certainly appeal more to the do-it-yourself type of person,” Flaherty said. “We sell a fair amount of blueberries, and those seem to appeal to just about everybody. We have a lot of people with kids like to do the berry plants. It seems to be a family planting activity for a lot of families.”

Connolly faces a similar situation at Hooper’s. ”I think it’d be easier to describe the demographic that is the least likely to purchase them- people over the age of 60,” he said. He has seen younger families, more mature families, and other groups spread across different income levels buying the plants.

Despite the popularity and sales numbers, berry plants most likely represent a niche crop for growers. Most garden center owners and employees we spoke with said that berry plant sales represented a small percentage of their total green goods sales, especially in comparison to other shrubs and edibles they stock in their store. Although the profits earned from the sale of these plants may not bring in the same revenue as other crops, those who sell the berry plants find it to be a worthwhile inclusion in their green goods section.

Garden centers are looking for an edge in trying to remain relevant to their customer base, said Tim Kane, sales and marketing manager at Prides Corner Farms in Lebanon, Conn., and former garden center manager.

Maxwell also sees the benefits of carrying a product that appeals to Generation X and Y, age groups that garden centers struggle to attract into the store.

“We’re having trouble capturing the younger market, so we want to offer something that they’re interested in,” she said. “A lot of [younger] people are interested in growing their own and think it’s cool.”

More than fruit
Berry plants are certainly a value added product. They can satisfy diverse needs that the customers might have. Those looking for a landscape shrub can plant a blueberry bush, rather than the typical boxwood. Breeders have been developing different varieties with colorful foliage that can be an attractive addition to customers’ yards.

“We sell the blueberries as a foundation shrub,” Maxwell said. “You can get fruit and also have a pretty plant.”

The shrubs may even help motivate customers to redo their landscaping, since there are more than just aesthetic advantages to planting berry bushes.

Make the movement last
Is this trend going to plateau? Aust said berry consumption is going nowhere but up. "We as an industry [need to] make varieties and plant products that are easy and convenient, healthy and a great experience and [have] great flavor — all the reasons why the 22 year olds are telling me they buy berries. That, to me, is a movement that will last a long time. It’s up to us to make sure that our berry products fit those needs.”

Karen Varga is editor of Garden Center magazine; kvarga@gie.net.