With the arrival of summer heralding the start of the European peach and nectarine season, the ‘Fruitness enjoy it!’ project has resumed its campaign to encourage increased consumption of fresh produce in Austria, Germany, Poland, Sweden and the UK. The project, which is promoted by the European Union, Italian research and marketing agency Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO) and the Italian government, aims to raise young people’s awareness about healthy lifestyles and the importance of maintaining a balanced diet.
During the past few weeks, peaches and nectarines have featured prominently as the ‘Fruitness, enjoy it!’ summer promotional season has got underway at stores participating in the campaign, fronted by superhero Mr Fruitness and his allies the Fruit Team, consisting of peaches, nectarines, pears, kiwifruit and plums. Fruit and vegetable departments in the key target markets were decorated with posters showing the various Fruit Team characters engaged in sporting activities, while children have been given free miniature playing cards with the four traditional suits replaced by peaches and nectarines, plums, pears and kiwifruit. “The aim is to combine play with the chance to discover the important nutritional characteristics of these foods,” said a spokesperson for the project.
In addition to these classic promotions, Mr Fruitness has had some different surprises up his sleeve this year. In late June, promotional materials and other freebies were distributed in the heart of London, to the wonder and amusement of passers-by. In addition, the new Mr Fruitness Facebook page went online earlier this year and is constantly being updated with fruit-based recipes, tips from Mr Fruitness on children’s wellbeing and healthy living, and a fun quiz.
According to figures supplied by CSO, this season’s Italian peach production is estimated at around 700,000 tonnes this year, in line with last year’s 698,705 tonnes. In contrast, the country’s nectarine production will be notably larger at a forecast 782,000 tonnes, an increase on the 776,925 tonnes produced in 2010. With some 87,300 tonnes of early varieties anticipated this time around, there is likely to be a fall of 10 per cent in the volume of peaches coming online in the first portion of the campaign, even though overall Italian peach and nectarine volumes are stable at around 1.6m tonnes.
In the north, forecasts suggest a 3 per cent increase in peaches for the fresh market, an increase of 3 per cent in early peach volumes and a 1 per cent fall in nectarine output, compared with 2010. Emilia-Romagna, the country’s largest stonefruit supplier, will most likely see a 3 per cent upturn in its peach production this year, but a similar-sized decrease in nectarine volumes.
Italy continues to lead the way in Europe when it comes to apricot production, but in 2011 its production is set to fall dramatically by 22 per cent compared with last season to 189,000 tonnes. The decrease is most evident in the south of the country, where cso reports a 28 per cent year-on-year downturn mainly due to damage caused by recent cold weather. In Emilia-Romagna, the drop will be less pronounced but, at 15 per cent, no less significant.
