Oktoberfest will provide co-ops with a great two-week promotional opportunity to drive traffic and incremental sales following Labor Day. An annual festival — which this year begins on Saturday, Sept. 20 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 5 — Oktoberfest is the world’s largest Volksfest (a large event in German-speaking countries) and is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810.
Merchandising for this holiday can result in a lot of impulse purchases throughout the two-week period. Feature items as meal solutions with products, ingredients and recipes merchandised together. Utilize auxiliary cases positioned at the front of the store if possible. Departments should dedicate a space to merchandise their department-specific German foods, cross-merchandising items along with recipes cards and unique story messaging.
Meat merchandising and promotions could include a refrigerated bunker or auxiliary spot case featuring bratwurst, knockwurst, wieners and frankfurters cross-merchandised with buns, sauerkraut and a variety of mustards. Also include a row of thin sliced chicken and pork cutlets with recipe cards for schnitzel.
Key categories and products to focus on include:
- Beer: German beers, such as Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu and Löwenbräu, to name a few. Or feature dunkel (a light lager) or Märzen (an amber lager) from favorite local and regional breweries.
- Sausage: Stores with in-house sausage programs could get creative by promoting a variety of German sausages, however, Bratwurst will be the volume driver for sales.
- Meats: whole split chickens (brathendl), schnitzel (thin-cut boneless chicken breasts or tenders and thin-cut pork cutlets for frying), pork shoulder roasts and pork tenderloins, Black Forest hams and German sausages (bratwurst, weibwurst, knockwurst, mettwurst, wieners and frankfurters).
- Condiments: sauerkraut, mustards (Burkhardt, Hengstenberg, Dusseldorf and Bavarian sweet mustards), pickles, curry ketchup, horseradish and apple sauce.
- Deli featured hot table dish: currywurst, German sausage, potatoes and sauerkraut or Jägerschnitzel.
- Deli: German potato salads, Bavarian beer cheese spread, Bavarian cheeses and Westphalian breads, German spaetzle, bread dumplings and potato dumplings, Hungarian goulash and German red cabbage.
- Bakery: Pfeffernusse cookies, apfelstrudel, German rote grotze, Apple Kuchen and Bavarian pretzels.
- Cheeses: Gouda, English cheddar, butterkase and kolsch and Limburger.
Promote these items with sales signs featuring Oktoberfest Bavarian colors (cobalt blue and white). Work with vendors early on securing promotional deals and Oktoberfest merchandise, such as a “Beer Stein Giveaway,” that you can offer in drawings throughout the two-week promotion.
