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First printed in Checkout Magazine
Plan to boost French exports
This seasons Summer Fruits from France campaign is the first step in a bid to curb the declining export of French summer fruits
to Britain.
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| Nectarines: exports are set to grow with more exposure |
Led by Interfel,the organisation which represents the French fresh produce sector, the programme will run across several multiple retailers to raise consumer awareness of French fruits, which include apricots, pears, cherries, plums, melons, peaches and nectarines.
Interfel hopes the campaign will continue to increase apricot exports and boost exports of other fruits to the UK. Exports to the UK fell 7% from 2002 to 2005. Peaches and nectarines fell by a quarter, pears were down 17%, plums down 12% and cherries fell 5%. Apricots were the only fruit in growth, up 8%.
The £60,000 marketing campaign will consist of consumer tastings and an on-pack promotion. Last month tastings began in Marks & Spencer and Waitrose. Tastings in Waitrose stores will continue into the first week of July.
The on-pack promotion, which gives consumers the chance to claim a free pair of flip-flops in return for two proofs of purchase, will also run across supermarkets. The offer will go live on 100,000 packs in Co-op stores from 10 July for three weeks. In Tesco and Sainsburys stores the promotion will be communicated via a leaflet distributed at tastings during the end of July through to early August.
Daniel Obadia, president of the Apricot Committee, said several factors had influenced the decline of French fruit exports to the UK. He said greater competition from other producing countries, such as Spain, where the quality of product was getting better and prices stayed relatively stable, was an important factor. Additionally, he said commercial organisations in France were not as good at managing logistics as they were in other countries. We need to group together to take a French approach, he said. He added that larger marketing budgets from many competing countries played a part.
To reverse the decline he said French producers needed to continue to offer good quality fruit and streamline their organisational committees to be able to focus more on the commercial side of the business. He added the new Ecopèche group, set up to focus on the commercial aspect of peaches and necatarines, was a step in the right direction to achieving this.
Approximately 1,023,000 tonnes of French summer fruits have been produced this year, with just over 2% (22,353 tonnes) being exported to the UK, the fourth biggest export market for the produce.
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