The South African fresh produce trade is gearing up for a renewed marketing push in the UK and Germany during 2011 with the continuation of its Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit campaign to raise awareness of the country's fresh produce exports.
Backed by newly redesigned country motif backed by the International Marketing Council of South Africa, the promotional effort will focus on the distinctive qualities of sourcing and eating South African fruit – particularly eating quality, proximity to market, freshness, ethical trading practices and the taste of specific varieties such as Flavor King plums and blush pears like Forelle.
The integrated campaign, now in its third year following a pilot project for plums in early 2009 and the subsequent expansion of activity to peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, grapes and grapefruit from the beginning of 2010, will focus on the unique qualities of South African stonefruit and topfruit.
Although the country's table grape growers have decided to withdraw from the joint promotion in order to concentrate on developing new markets, the country's apples, pears, peaches, nectarines and plums will all feature prominently in major retail outlets as well as consumer and trade media during their respective seasons.
As yet, it has not been confirmed if South Africa's grapefruit growers will take part in the campaign once again during 2011, although the country's Citrus Growers Association said it planned to join again pending confirmation of its campaign funding from the South African government.
In the UK, the first PR activies for stonefruit are scheduled to begin in November, with the bulk of promotions – including in-store tastings – taking place from December to mid-February, while for topfruit the campaign will get fully underway during February and March, with in-store sampling scheduled for the start of the summer.
For Germany, a slightly smaller programme of events is planned for approximately the same time periods, with the focus very much on pears, apricots and plums.
Jacques Du Preez, product manager for topfruit and stonefruit at Hortgro Services, which recently took on the market development role previously carried out by the Deciduous Fruit Producers' Trust, said the last two years had marked a 'significant step forward' for South African fruit in the UK market.
'The Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit initiative is about highlighting South African fruit when it's at its very best, and building upon our reputation as a reliable source of varied, fresh, ethically produced and great-tasting produce,' he said.
'We're extremely positive about the development of this campaign and have been delighted with the support we've built up from within the industry – and the reaction we've seen from consumers,' he added, 'Crucially, these strengthening relationships have already demonstrated they can impact positively on sales.'
The Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit campaign is funded by a combination of grower levies and government contributions.
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