Top 5 Things You Need to Know

• Taste: Radishes have a bold, spicy flavor.
• Selection: Shoppers should look for radishes with good color that have a solid feel to them. Mushy or decaying radishes should be avoided.
• Use: Radishes are most often used in salads and vegetable trays.
• Merchandising: Give consumers the look of freshness by selling radishes with the tops on, evoking memories of radishes grown in the backyard garden.
• Health: Radish greens are high in vitamin C, which is a cancer-fighting antioxidant.

On the shelves

Variety

Differences in radish varieties are minimal and are undetectable to most consumers.

Stocking

Radishes like the chill. Keep them refrigerated to keep them looking crisp. Keep bagged product away from the mist, but be sure to mist bunched radishes.

Display

Use radishes’ bright red color to your advantage. Place them between some green salad vegetables like lettuce and green onion or cucumbers for an eye-catching color break. Radishes are most often used in salads and rarely purchased alone, so place them near other salad vegetables.

Making the sale

Tie-ins

Market radishes in salad displays that include dressings, croutons and other salad fixings.

Seasonal promotions

Summer is the perfect time for salads, so don’t forget the radishes in your summertime salad promotions.

Think outside the salad bowl and include radishes on vegetable trays for Super Bowl promotions, as they taste great eaten with dip.

On the plate

Don’t forget the radish tops. After trimming them off the radish, you can use them for salad greens or cook them up for a traditional side of greens. Stuffed radishes make an eye-catching appetizer. Add a little spicy flavor to your recipe by substituting radishes for turnips.

Nutrition and health

Health benefits

Radishes are a fat free food, which makes them a healthful addition to any diet. A low-fat diet has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Nutrient content descriptors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the following nutrient content descriptors for radishes: fat-free, saturated fat-free, very low sodium, cholesterol-free, low in calories, and high in vitamin C.

At the register

Common PLUs

4739 - black

4089 - bunched, red

4740 - bunched, white

4741 - Italian red

4742 - red

4743 - white

In the backroom

Shipping

Topped

40-lb. sacks/bags, loose

25-lb. bags

14 1-lb. bags

14 1-lb. resealable bags

12-lb. baskets/cartons

30 6-oz. or 24 8-oz. bags

4 5-lb. bags

Bunched

35-lb. carton/crates, 48-count

30-lb. 4/5-bushel cartons/lugs

25-lb. cartons, 24-count

20-lb. cartons/crates, 2 dozen

15-lb. cartons/crates, 24-count

RPC – 6411, 6413, 6416, 6419, 6420, 6423, 6425

Foodservice packs

6-, 24- and 42-count bags, bunched

25-pound bags, loose

Grades

Topped and bunched

U.S.No. 1

U.S.commercial

Handling

Temperature:32 F(0 C)

Relative humidity: 95-100%

Mist: bunched, yes; do not mist wrapped product

Typical shelf life: bunched, 10 to 14 days; topped 14 to 21 days; larger winter radishes, two to four months

Moderately sensitive to freezing injury (Able to recover from one or two light freezings.)

If tops of the radishes are attached, they should also be fresh and unwilted.

Fresh Trends 2012

• More than a fifth of all consumers purchased radishes in the past year.
• Consumers living in the West are the most likely to purchase radishes at 28%, while those living in the South are the least likely to do so at 18%.
• Radishes are more popular with older consumers, as those over 59 were about twice as likely to purchase as those 21-39.

Facts:

Pounds sold in 2011 – 32,140,100

Pounds sold in 2010 – 32,861,284

Average retail price per pound in 2011 – $2.25

Average retail price per pound in 2010 – $2.21

Retail sales in 2011 -- $72,332,405                 Percent of total produce sales 2011 – 0.2%

Retail sales in 2010 -- $72,701,248                 Percent of total produce sales 2010 – 0.2%

Figures do not include Wal-Mart sales.

Source: FreshLook Marketing