The Association of Brazilian Lime Producers (ABPEL) has come up with a new logo and a series of promotional activities to boost awareness of the unique qualities of Brazilian limes among British consumers and chefs, as part of a campaign to raise the overall profile of the fruit in the UK this year.
Backed by Brazilian fruit industry association IBRAF and export and investment organisation APEXBrasil, the campaign focuses on key reasons for choosing a Brazilian lime, such as high juice content and its lack of seeds.
As highlighted by ABPEL, all of the limes exported from Brazil are the paler, green Tahiti variety, which have usually have thinner skins and contain more juice.
The campaign aims to encourage the use of limes in drinks and recipes as a less bitter option to lemons.
PR activities began in mid-February with sampling to commuters at Birmingham New Street railway station and on street in London.
Consumers were given frees lime, as well as information and simple ideas for using the fruit.
Chef demonstrations, meanwhile, have also taken place for approximately 100 students at two of the UK's leading catering colleges, showing them a range of uses for limes and explaining how to choose the best-quality fruit.
Last month, Westminster Kingsway College – the college that counts Jamie Oliver and Antony Worrall Thompson among its alumni – put Brazilian limes on its tasting menu in the renowned Escoffier Rooms restaurant.
Lime time
As Waldyr Promicia, president of ABPEL, observes, the UK market for fresh limes grew by 25.5 per cent in value during the 52 weeks to 26 December 2010, according to analyst Kantar WordPanel.
'Limes are growing in popularity in the UK, and sales here grew by more than 25 per cent last year alone,' he said. 'Increasing media interest in cuisines that use lime is one reason for this growth, while shoppers are also understanding the milder flavour of limes make them an excellent alternative to lemon.
He added: 'It’s a great time to be promoting limes and we've had a fantastic initial reaction to the sampling activity we’ve been carrying out for both consumers and chefs.'
Brazilian-born chef Marcello Tully, head chef at the Michelin-starred Kinloch Lodge Hotel on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, created three Brazilian-influenced recipes with limes for the campaign, for use in the consumer press.
These included: a Brazilian lime fish stew; avocado, lime and chocolate parfait; and a lime and cranberry refresher.
The recipes continue to be featured in competitions and other editorial articles published in the consumer press.
Brazilian limes, available throughout the year, are grown by family producers concentrated in the states of Sao Paolo, Minas Gerais and Bahia.
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