Honeybear Insights unlocks advanced decision-making for pome fruit retailers
Apple grower, developer, and marketer Honeybear Brands is expanding its data-driven retail support with the Honeybear Insights Team (HIT). The dedicated analytics group is designed to help grocery partners optimize assortment, pricing, and promotions in the apple and pear categories.
The HIT formalizes what the company says has become a growing need among retailers to address high-impact category questions.
The company says retailers now face more varieties, tighter competition for shelf space, and changing shopping behavior, particularly among younger consumers. The Honeybear Insights Team aims to address those challenges through customized, market-level analysis that supports more confident decision-making.
“The Honeybear Insights Team grew out of what we were hearing consistently from our retail partners,” President of Sales and Marketing Chuck Sinks tells FreshFruitPortal.com. “Many were looking for clearer, faster answers to basic but high-impact questions: ‘Are we priced right? Are we promoting at the right time? Which varieties are truly driving growth?’”
Insights draw the map
The brand’s new team functions as an extension of a retailer's category management team, Sinks explains, aligning with each customer’s goals and shopper base.
“We can drill down to the major market or retailer divisional level—evaluating performance, pricing strategies, distribution gaps, local influences, and competitive positioning,” Sinks explains. “The insights are tailored to each banner and shopper base, giving retailers clear, data-backed actions that improve category performance.”
Honeybear has invested in third-party data and analytics talent to support the program, Sinks says. Data sources include syndicated category data, pricing audits, and retailer point-of-sale and loyalty data.
“Together, these sources reveal what’s happening at the shelf, why it’s happening, and which strategies will deliver the best results,” the executive adds.
The Honeybear Insights program provides unbiased category intelligence that helps retailers better match assortment and pricing to consumer demand while improving overall profitability, the firm says.
Transparency guides the data
Sinks says that the Honeybear Insights Team takes a category-first approach, meaning it makes recommendations even if they do not directly benefit Honeybear-branded items. That transparency, he stresses, is central to the company’s retail partnerships.
“We want to help our customers be successful even if that means encouraging the promotion of a variety that isn’t ours,” he adds. “That honest, uncensored level of communication is key to the trusted relationships Honeybear has developed throughout the industry.”
The company positions the Honeybear insights program as especially relevant to re-engage younger consumers, which can be especially critical for pears, Sinks says.
According to USApple, the queen of pome fruit remains the second-most-consumed in the US, behind bananas, but its popularity has declined.
“We need to turn that trend around and give them a reason to choose apples first for a variety of eating occasions,” adds Kristi Harris, Brand Manager at Honeybear Brands. “Health-conscious consumers are looking for foods that deliver both nutrition and convenience—and apples have both in spades.”
Calling out trending health benefits and ease of use, alongside flavor, is a key part of our merchandising and digital strategy, she adds.
Sinks adds that the Honeybear Insights Team supports these broader category goals by identifying assortment gaps, pricing inconsistencies, and navigation issues that can limit purchases, even with shoppers already in the store.
“At Honeybear’s HIT team, we believe a rising tide lifts all ships. That’s why we focus on total category growth—not just Honeybear items. When the data shows that a competitor variety, a shelf reset, or a new merchandising strategy will elevate overall performance, we recommend it,” he adds.
*All photography courtesy of Honeybear Brands.
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