A new campaign designed to boost consumer confidence in the fresh fruit and vegetables they buy is set to be launched in a number of European markets.
The project, entitled 'Fruitylife: every day with you', is being rolled out in Italy, France and Germany over the coming weeks and aims to respond to apparent public uncertainty about the safety and provenance of fresh produce sold in Europe in the wake of last year's devastating E coli crisis and a series of high-profile reports into alleged pesticide residue risks on certain products.
Coordinated by Italian non-profit organisation Alimos and co-funded by the European Union and the Italian government, the campaign will begin with a number of promotional and educational poin-of-sale activities in greengrocers, supermarkets and restaurants.
Posters and leaflets, including a specially made produce availability calendar, will also be handed out in fresh produce departments, reminding shoppers about fruit and vegetable seasonality and explaining how best to maximise the quality and taste of what they buy.
'Fruitylife is an initiative that we consider very important for the promotion of European fruit and vegetables and the food education of consumers and shoppers,' commented Alimos director Massimo Brusaporci.
'In terms of food safety, the EU boasts extremely scrupulous legislation that respects human health,' he continued. 'For that reason, the fruit and vegetables produced in its member countries offer excellent levels of healthiness.
'This advantage will be communicated so that people can appreciate our fruit and vegetable production in traditional importer countries like German but also in strong producer countries like Italy and France.'
Underliing the importance of including fresh fruit and vegetables to eating a healthy diet, Alimos has devised an entertaining publicity campaign in which fruit and vegetables are transformed into items used commonly every day.
Faithful friends
From the woman using a French bean as an eyeliner pencil to the melon slice transformed into a telephone handset; from the carrot used as a pen to the girl who listens to music using two peaches as headphones; the tagline 'every day, with you' on each poster is aimed at underlining the notion of fresh produce being a faithful friend that is with you on a daily basis.
'These days, the distances between agriculture and consumers has increased, meaning knowledge of such products' characteristics, the way in which they are grown and the system of checks have been lost,' added Brusaporci.
'With the Fruitylife project, we want to emphasise the idea that fresh European fruit and vegetables are safe, trustworthy and controlled, guaranteeing a broad choice of seasonal products every day and promoting health, safety and taste.'
At the end of the European summer, the campaign will switch its communications to the internet and a new website fruitylife.eu, where visitors will find information and news about the EU fresh produce supply chain, product traceability and food safety, as well as recipes and other ideas for eating fresh fruit and vegetables.
Dialogue with consumers will continue via some of Europe's most popular social media platforms, namely Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Members of Alimos taking part in the project include some of Italy's leading producers, including Alegra, Apofruit Italia, Conor, Naturitalia and Orogel Fresco.
