The Chilean Blueberry Committee says its first-ever marketing campaign in Taiwan has been a resounding success.
According to Charif Christian Carvajal, director of marketing at Asoex, the campaign featured tastings in 11 of Costco supermarkets in the Taiwanese capital Taipei in the month of February, supported by in-store promotional materials.
Rose Marie Bedecarratz, ProChile’s commercial director in Taipei, said despite Chilean blueberries already dominating the counterseasonal deal in Taiwan there were still growth opportunities in the market.
She noted that cutting the cost of the product through the greater use of maritime transportation, carrying out more promotional campaigns and increasing rotation in the retail sector in order to service a higher number of regular consumers were three key factors that would help boost sales.
“Importers and distributors agree that blueberry consumption will continue to climb in Taiwan in the medium term, albeit at a less explosive rhythm than in the past five years,” she said. “During that period product penetration grew markedly, principally in the north of Taiwan.”
She pointed out that the positioning of blueberries as a nutraceutical had helped fuel the rise in consumption, while indirectly sales were been driving by the rising popularity of western-style patisseries.
Andres Armstrong, CBC’s executive director, said the campaign was a key part of the committee’s overall strategy of diversifying and developing export markets.
“This involves firstly extending our presence in existing markets, such as the US, where we are looking for new niches, new distribution channels and new opportunities in the foodservice sector, which represents restaurants, hotels, catering, casinos, schools and universities amongst others, and secondly deepening our penetration of new markets such as Scandinavia,” Armstrong said.
Bedecarratz said that future promotional campaigns in Taiwan would focus on central and southern regions where consumption levels are still low.
