New Zealand’s avocado industry is expecting what could be its largest ever crop later this year, and to move the big volume sector is considering new promotion initiatives on the country’s domestic market.
The kiwifruit industry in New Zealand has traditionally done little promotion on the domestic market, but with continued growth in production volumes expected in the next few years, NZ Avocado Growers’ Association CEO Jen Scoular said the industry is looking at ways to boost consumption in its own backyard.
“We’ve `long` collected a levy for offshore, but this year growers have recognised there’s work that needs to be done domestically, and that may be looking at the supply chain as much as doing in-store promotion,” Ms Scoular told Fruitnet.com.
She said the Association made the decision to set up a local market promotions steering group at a board meeting earlier in the year, which is now deciding on what kind of work needs to be done on the domestic market, and has also started collecting levies for local promotions.
“We’re looking at a big crop this year, and we recognise we have to do what we can to make sure there is high demand for it,” Ms Scoular stated. “All the time we’re working with the exporters, we need to be working on the local market side as well.”
The Association has examined consumer data from retail analyst Nielsen, according to Ms Scoular, and has worked on understanding how much consumers are buying, and why some consumers don’t buy avocados.
The industry will also continue its coordination with the Australian avocado sector to tie into generic avocado marketing campaigns there. Australia remains New Zealand’s largest market for the fruit.
