Coregeo, the fresh produce marketing specialist behind the Pink Lady apple brand in the UK, has been awarded The Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) Food Drink and Agriculture (FDA) Group Excellence in Marketing award for its work on the leading apple brand.
The award was handed to the group at a special event at the House of Commons on 17 March, with the presentation made on behalf of the FDA Group by Mark Price, managing director at Waitrose.
Presented annually to only one food, drink or agricultural company whom CIM believes has demonstrated outstanding marketing skills, the award was accepted on behalf of Pink Lady by Coregeo's managing director, Andy Macdonald, at the President's Dinner of the FDA Group.
The Pink Lady apple brand was chosen as the winner based on a number of criteria, including strength and longevity of brand, having a fully international supply chain, growth in international markets, a unique business model, success in multi channels, a track record of change and innovation, and a good CSR and environmental record.
'The Excellence in Marketing Award was created to celebrate brands that have stood the test of time and have had success in multi-channels, both in the face of strong competition and without automatically having access to huge resources,' said John Giles, chair of the CIM FDA Group. 'When it came to judging this year's award, despite some tough competition, the Pink Lady apple brand was the clear winner, as it is one of the few products to have risen above commodity status and established a true brand in the primary agri food sector.
'Thanks to Coregeo’s persistence, hard work and expertise, we feel the Pink Lady apple business model (IP rights and supply chain management) has become the benchmark for branded agriculture and food,' Mr Giles added.
Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose Ltd and keynote speaker at the President's Dinner added: 'No other apple variety has a level of recognition and customer awareness that comes close to Pink Lady and this, our fourth best selling variety, is a great favourite with Waitrose shoppers.
'A recent promotion supported by the Pink Lady Apples marketing agency broke all our previous records,' Mr Price revealed. 'We achieved 700 per cent growth on Pink Lady and sold almost a week's worth of stock every day for practically three weeks. Other varieties without the profile do not achieve these heights and it will always be an important apple for Waitrose.'
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