Dole Europe has announced that it is to mark its first anniversary in the eastern European country of Romania by launching a television campaign supporting its leading position in the market and outlining its ambitions for future growth.
The campaign, which has the tagline 'Orice banana vrea sa fie Dole' (Every banana wants to be a Dole), marks a push by the group to expand brand awareness and develop Romanians' consumption of fresh produce which is currently 10kg below the EU average of 95kg per capita.
Running over several weeks from 12 April, the national drive features on the country's main media channels, and is also backed by several other trade marketing activities.
'Our leadership in the banana category is undisputed, which is the reason for the 'Every banana wants to be a Dole' slogan,' said Victor Esquivel, general manager of Dole Romania. 'It is the first marketing project that we have run in Romania and it will be highly visible.'
Dole became the first international fruit company to operate directly in Romania last year, when it acquired its local distributor, and the group already stands out as a national leader with intentions of covering 25 per cent of the 8m banana boxes on the national market each year.
'As a strong network through Europe, Dole has always been open and eager to embrace new opportunities in order to answer its customers' development on new markets,' said Jean-Christophe Juillard, president of Dole Europe. 'It is challenging and necessary, given the fact that Dole partners with retailers and wholesalers to build long-term ties and to establish a regular supply with frequently arriving fresh products.
'Expanding in Romania was a strategic goal for us, we wanted to provide our customers there with Dole's know-how and expertise all along the chain, from the source to them,' he added. 'We will continue our development where we can bring added value, creating new division or acquiring local partners where the market conditions and potential are optimum.'
