Foods from Spain has launched a nationwide competition in UK schools as part of its campaign to promote Spanish Persimon. In a bid to raise awareness of the product amongst schoolchildren and their families, the competition invites children to design a new outfit for campaign mascot Pedro Persimon, with the winning school receiving £1,000 towards resources and equipment. Runner up prizes of £500 and £250 are also being offered.
More than 12m persimons were sold in the UK between October and January, equivalent to 2,000 tonnes of the 25,000 tonnes marketed under the DO-certified Spanish Persimon label during the 2012/13 campaign. This represents growth of around 125 per cent on the previous season. In total, Spanish persimon production reached 70,000 tonnes last year.
Rafael Perucho, head of the regulatory council, Kaki de la Ribera del Xúquer, which controls the DO certification for the fruit, said this year’s bumper crop coupled with the impact of ongoing promotional efforts made further expansion likely in the coming season.
“We enjoyed a particularly strong season last year in the UK, where we have continued to grow dramatically,” he said. “The response of retailers and consumers has been incredibly positive in this market and persimon has moved rapidly from being a niche fruit to a mainstream player that regularly outsells mangoes and kiwifruit during the season. This, coupled with a good availability of quality fruit, means we are very optimistic for the potential for growth in both this year and beyond.”
