The promotional programme for Pink Lady apples is being extended in Asia this year, as part of the developing market for the apple brand is aiming to include more Australian fruit in the supply mix.
Coregeo Australia, the intellectual property division of the Pink Lady trademark owner Apple & Pear Australia Limited (APAL), will add Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong to its promotional programme this year, extending from current work in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.
“I think we’re anticipating 1,500 tonnes `of Pink Lady apple imports` across South East Asia this coming year,” predicted Garry Langford, Coregeo Australia’s manager.
The programmes in those countries will be focused on supporting sales of Pink Lady apples. Going a step further is the organisation’s work in India this year.
“We’ve just conducted some consumer research in India; in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai,” Langford detailed. The testing follows on from similar consumer taste-testing in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2010, and sales trials in Shanghai in 2011.
This year in China, Coregeo Australia hopes to expand sales from Shanghai to Guangzhou, explained Langford.
“Pink Lady product for there will come from France, Chile and New Zealand, and with a bit of luck some from Tasmania. The aim is to have 4,000 tonnes; it was only 600 tonnes last year.”
Tasmania is one of only a few suppliers able to send apples directly to mainland China, and as an Australia organisation promoting the Australian owned and developed Pink Lady brand, Langford says it is a goal to include more Australian fruit in the programme.
“As an industry we’re trying to get mainland Australian access to mainland China, so it’s important we have some fruit come from Tasmania with the area freedom protocol it has,” he added. “Unless we’re using that protocol, it will be more difficult to convince the Chinese government about shipping fruit from mainland Australia as well.”
