Tag Archives: marketing

Tesco will take surplus cherries from suppliers

Having already helped suppliers sell larger than forecast quantities of strawberries, lettuce and carrots, the retailer is now taking advantage of the bumper crop of British cherries.

“Working with our suppliers we’re able to start the British cherry season two weeks earlier this year than in 2016. The abundance of cherries will be available for customers for an impressive eight weeks,” said Karen Bee, Buying Manager for stone fruit.

“The wonderful weather we’ve experienced across the UK has meant that our British cherry crop has come-on in bigger volumes than we’d forecast. Our supply partners have told us about a crop flush brought on by the bonus British sunshine. They have extra cherries from their growing sites in both Kent ‘the Garden of England’ and Herefordshire. We’ve worked with them to take their extra crop.”

So far Tesco has bought an extra 80 tonnes a week of British cherries, with larger 1 kg boxes available for £4.00. The retailer also said it aimed to have promotions on all different packs sizes to suit a variety of budgets.

Photo Credit: Tesco

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Berryworld gives away raspberries at Wimbledon

Soft fruit supplier Berryworld has sought to raise the profile of its own brand berries, which were first launched 18 months ago, by handing out around 7,500 pots of raspberries to tennis fans in the queue during the first week of Wimbledon.

Berryworld Managing Director Paul Cole said the event was aimed at raising awareness of the company’s branded offering: “We’ve done tastings at retailers, but that’s mainly been own label,” he said. “This is the biggest event we’ve done to promote our brand but we’ve got more planned. There are so many different avenues you can go down to push the name forward.”

He also said that while products such as raspberries and blueberries were unlikely to become as popular as strawberries, there was plenty of potential for growth. “They’ve got a long way to go and part of our job as marketers is getting people buying into them,” he added.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

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Wholesalers concerned about effects of hot weather

According to reports, some wholesalers have expressed concern about the recent spate of hot, dry weather on the availability of certain UK produce lines, including broccoli and some soft fruit.

Following temperatures of 31oC in Lincolnshire and 25oC in Cornwall, former Secretts Direct boss Vernon Mascarenhas of New Covent Garden’s First Choice Produce told the Fresh Produce Journal that “Broccoli will be hardest hit because generally you don’t irrigate broccoli. In this heat the broccoli plant will dehydrate and shut down.”

He added, “Strawberries are also going to be a problem. In this weather strawberry plants can just shut down and stop producing. “Everyone loves the hot weather but people should realise what it can do to our food chain,” he said. “There are going to be consequences.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

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Poupart re-launches Ravenhill brand

Poupart Produce used the recent London Produce Show to re-launch its premium ‘Ravenhill’ brand of products, which is currently listed in Ocado.

Named after one of the Poupart Group’s founders; William Ravenhill, the company is targeting premium retailers with the range which currently includes cherries, asparagus and rhubarb, although Poupart commercial manager, Sam Trebbick told reporters that the brand could include premium produce from any category.

His remarks suggest that the range will therefore sit across the top of Poupart Produce’s company structure, which includes Poupart Imports, Orchard World, Citrus First and Norton Folgate. The company said that it is currently in talks with other retailers about listing the brand.

Photo Credit: Poupart Produce

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European organic association formed

A new European association for traders and processors of organics has been formed. The Organic Processing and Trade Association (OPTA) was inaugurated in Milan, Italy on 7 June with five initial board members from four countries.

“The goal of our association is to empower the progress of organic food and farming in Europe in close cooperation with our customers, the organic farmers and other parts of the organic chain,” explained Volkert Engelsman, general manager of Eosta, one of the new members of the board. “The organic food and agricultural system with its strong values is best equipped to lead the transition to a more sustainable food system. The current system of food production, which is driven by externalising costs, is a dead-end. The OPTA will encourage the sustainable innovation and quality development of organic products, based on the principles of the organic movement: ecology, health, care and fairness. We need a powerful supply chain with active processors and trade companies to build a future-proof food and agricultural system in Europe.”

The new organisation, which has 15 founding members, says that it will work closely with existing national and European lobby organisations, as well as the European branch of the international organic umbrella organisation IFOAM.

Photo Credit: OPTA

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Blackcurrant Foundation announces “Big Squeeze” campaign

The Blackcurrant Foundation, which represents the interests of more than 40 British blackcurrant growers, has announced details of its digital consumer campaign for 2017.

With the majority of British blackcurrants (around 95%) ending up in fruit cordial Ribena, the will focus on the story of how the berry gets in the bottle. Named “The Big Squeeze” it will run from May until the British harvest ends in August, and hopes to increase consumer awareness via social media and Facebook.

The aspiration is for consumers to better understand the berry’s journey from bush to bottle, starting in May with a focus on farming heritage, followed by how the land is managed in June, and finally in July the 2017 harvest itself. The campaign will be driven through Facebook with monthly farm ‘vlogs’ updating followers on how the berries are growing. There will also be a number of consumer giveaways.

A spokesperson for the campaign commented, “It is hoped the campaign will bring awareness to the custodianship by British Farmers of this small but mighty super-fruit and the taste we all enjoy when drinking it!”

Photo Caption: Chair of The Blackcurrant Foundation- Jo Hilditch- Raising a glass to the new campaign in her blackcurrant fields in Herefordshire.

Photo Credit: The Blackcurrant Foundation

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Asda stops selling loose produce

According to the Mirror, Asda’s store in Bedminster, Bristol has stopped selling certain loose product lines, including potatoes, carrots and apples.

The online report said that shoppers had attempted to get round the requirement to buy pre-packs by opening them up and taking loose items to the checkout. “It’s not even about the money (although for some it will be) but think of the food waste,” said one customer. “Also think of a poor granny having to carry 1k of carrots and 1k of potatoes home when she’s cooking a stew for one!”

The Daily Mail said that the policy appeared to be nationwide with the Asda stores in Colne and Radcliffe also stopping the sale of loose produce.

Photo Caption: Many people have complained about the lack of loose produce in Asda store on social media.

Photo Credit: Twitter

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Over 200 proposals for EU agri-food promotion received

EU agri-food promotion programmes have received more than 200 proposals following a call for interest in January.

The programmes fall into two categories: simple programmes from one or more organisations from the same country or multi programmes which are backed by at least two organisations from at least two countries or one or more European-wide organisation.

For 2017, some 189 proposals were received for simple programmes, with 35 proposals for multi programmes. These will now be analysed and successful applicants are expected to be notified in October. The selected campaigns will receive European Commission financing for 70-85% of the total budget and have to use the ‘Enjoy! It’s From Europe,’ branding in their campaigns, which normally last for 3 years.

Some €133m from the EU budget is allocated for these promotional programmes in 2017, with €63 million aimed at simple programmes in non-EU countries and regions, including China, the Middle East, North America, South-East Asia and Japan. The programmes will focus primarily on fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products, as well as quality on the EU’s quality schemes and on raising awareness of sustainable agriculture and the role of agriculture in climate action.

Photo Credit: Flickr

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Fruit Logistica publishes Future Trends report

Fruit Logistica, the key European trade show for the fresh produce industry has published the first parts of a new four-part report on the future of the global fruit industry.

The report, which has been compiled by the Swiss think-tank, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, was first unveiled in Berlin on the eve of this year’s Fruit Logistica. The report highlights several important developments that the fresh produce industry will need to be aware of between now and 2025.

According to Wilfried Wollbold, Fruit Logistica global brand manager, “This trend analysis is our way of thanking all fresh produce industry customers and partners. They have supported Fruit Logistica over the last 25 years and helped make it the leading fresh produce industry business platform.”

Fruit Trade 2025: Part 1 – Key Trends and Drivers and Part 2 — Production Trends can be downloaded from the Fruit Logistica website. Parts Three and Four will be published in May and June respectively.

Photo Credit: Fruit Logistica

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Consumers will buy wonky fruit & veg if cheap enough

According to the results of a new survey by retail marketing specialist Blue Yonder, consumers are more willing to buy misshapen and so-called ‘wonky’ fruits and vegetables, but they expect a price discount.

The research, which was carried out amongst 2,000 shoppers in the UK, USA, France and Germany, found that 73 per cent  would consider buying fresh produce which had natural flaws, but 90 per cent said that they expected retailers to charge less for them than they would for regular fruit.

Of the four countries surveyed, France was the most accepting of misshapen produce with 93 per cent of those questioned saying they would buy it if there was a discount. However, less than half of Brits said they would buy wonky veg, with or without a price discount.

Matt Hopkins, retail industry director for Blue Yonder, said: “Discounting imperfect produce helps overcome the waste problem in the supply chain. However, for it to have a real impact on waste reduction, retailers need to understand what demand will be for products – wonky or not – to accurately stock the right amount of ‘imperfect’ versus ‘perfect’ fruit and vegetables.

“It would be pointless to reduce waste in the supply chain, only to see retailers having to throw it away from supermarket and distribution centre shelves.

“The findings also indicate that accurate markdown pricing is needed to successfully sell imperfect fruit and vegetables. Pricing ‘imperfect fruit and veg’ versus ‘perfect fruit and veg’ will add to the complexity and number of decisions in a world where grocery is already struggling to keep pace. The use of advanced machine learning algorithms for the best decisions, delivered daily, is important for survival and success.”

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