The fresh produce trade has come under such huge pressure from ethical and environmental lobby groups during the past two decades that the need to convey a huge number of different qualifications to the general public has potentially left the consumer faced with more trademarks and labels than he or she perhaps knows what to do with. Carbon and water footprints, indicators of good agricultural practice, geographical specifications, Fairtrade and organic marks, airfreight warnings: these are just some of the many labels vying for the consumer’s attention.
For the fresh produce business, however, there is an opportunity here to embrace still increasing public demand for social and environmental stewardship among suppliers and retailers. Of course, many in the business are already doing this and marketing their green credentials prominently – just take Chiquita’s well publicised work with the Rainforest Alliance as an example, which contributed to it being presented with a sustainability award in January.
Many companies are finding they can use best practice and corporate responsibility as a means to refine and improve the way in which their own brands are perceived. As reported in our Brand Dossier (Eurofruit Magazine, February issue), Fresh Del Monte has revamped its website to include a wealth of information about its sustainability programmes, the idea evidently to convert all of the goodwill such projects generate into additional brand equity. For the likes of Del Monte and Chiquita, the ultimate aim is for each of their labels alone to represent all that is good about the business – a ‘one brand fits all’ approach that reduces the need for consumers to be on the lookout for a vast range of different stickers to reassure them.
Last month, South African topfruit, stonefruit and grapefruit exporters officially launched their first joint campaign since deregulation, harnessing the country’s image as source of ‘beautiful’ fresh produce. The rainbow nation’s flag is arguably one of the most respected ethical labels anyone could imagine.
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