One of France’s top kiwifruit grower-distributors Barniols has joined Sikig and Blue Whale this season in selling its fruit in France under the new premium brand Swiki.
Swiki – launched last year by grower groups Sikig and Blue Whale – is both a marketing association and a marque, modelled on the Zespri format, designed to boost domestic kiwifruit sales in France.
By pooling their volumes and resources, the three organisations – which collectively account for over 20 per cent of French kiwifruit production (some 17,000 tonnes) – will market large quantities of top quality fruit and fund nationwide promotions needed to revitalise flagging domestic kiwifruit sales.
“For several years, the kiwifruit offer in France has been dominated by low-quality, either bad-tasting fruit or by really small fruits. The result is a stagnant market in regression,” Blue Whale’s Marc Peyres told Fruitnet.com.
“This market can be revitalised by separating the offer in a coherent way – basic, middle of the range, premium. Yes, there must always be low-priced basic fruit, but you must also identify products of superior taste so that the consumers can easily find them on the shelves and eat them. Especially since a good quality kiwifruit and a bad tasting one look the same from the outside.”
A range of kiwifruit products, including organic, punnets and four-packs, will be offered under the Swiki label, according to Sikig’s Pascale Bégoulle.
“We want to develop strong brand loyalty by offering a premium range to suit all needs,” she said.
For the time being, the brand is exclusive to the French market. But Ms Bégoulle does not rule out launching it on export markets. “Today, France. Tomorrow, why not Europe and elsewhere?” she said.
