The Chilean Blueberry Committee has this week set out its aims for the winter campaign in the US and Canada, highlighting an aggressive marketing programme designed to raise awareness and consumption of the fruit.
Running between October this year and March 2010, the US$350,000 campaign involves a number of promotional highlights such as recipes for newspaper and magazine food editors, blueberry samples sent to influential food personalities, radio and television messages and point-of-sale material at retail outlets.
Additionally, the committee is running sales incentive contests for national and regional foodservice distributors and is lining up tours of Chilean blueberry growing areas to key menu development professionals.
'The marketing message will target retail and foodservice consumersaged 25-54 with children at home, living in metro and suburban areasand with a household income of US$40,000 plus,' said Tom Tjerandsen,managing director of North American operations for the Chilean FreshFruit Association. 'A companion campaign focuses on Hispanic targets.'
Key objectives for the committee, which was formed in May this year and is made up of leading blueberry exporters representing 91 per cent of the Chile's blueberry exports,are to provide regular updates on harvest volumes as the seasonprogresses and to eliminate inefficiency and unnecessary costs indistribution channels by focusing on the one pint clamshell as standardpackaging during peak arrival times.
'I want to make sure every importer and retailer knows that the chosen standard packaging during peak winter weeks (week 51-week 5) will be the one-pint clamshell, which proved successful this summer season,' said Felipe Juillerat, president of the Chilean Blueberry Committee.
Last year saw a 47 per cent increase in Chilean fresh blueberry export volumes to the US, and current projections anticipate an additional 35 per cent increase this year.
