public function persistProduct($product, $name = null)
    {

        // persist the new entity and return the ID
        $id = $this->getProductAction()->persist($product, $name);

        // add the product to the cache, register the SKU reference as well
        $this->getProductRepository()->toCache($product[MemberNames::SKU], $product, array($product[MemberNames::SKU] => $id));

        // return the ID of the persisted product
        return $id;
    }