Murcian and Andalusian exporter associations Proexort and Hortyfruta have signed an agreement with Germany’s biggest supermarket group, Edeka, to promote fruits and vegetables grown in the two regions across its national store network.
The campaign will feature more than 4,500 in-store tastings, a mailing campaign to millions of German households and magazine and press advertising. Under the slogan “Enjoy Spain”, the promotion will focus on a wide range of vegetables, summer fruit and citrus. It is part of the retailer’s wider “We love food” campaign.
The campaign kicks off with in-store vegetable tastings, which will run from January to March, before moving on to stonefruit (June-July) and ending with citrus (November-December).
“This agreement will help drive home the value of fruits and vegetables from Proexport’s members and Murcian producers in general to millions of German consumers,” said Fernando Gómez, Proexport’s director. “It opens an important door to the opportunities that exist for greater collaboration between producers and distributors on fresh produce promotions.”
Leaflets delivered to 25m German households and 10m magazines will include a QR code allowing consumers to access information on individual growers and production zones, raising the profile of Murcian agriculture, Proexport said. A number of activities are also lined up for schools and key sporting events.
Gómez said the success of Proexport and Hortyfruta’s joint campaign under the slogan “Vegetables of Europe: we care, you enjoy”, which has been running in Germany, the UK and Austria since 2012, had convinced Edeka to sign the two organisations up as partners for the new promotion.
“Raising consumer confidence in our fruits and vegetables will bring positive results for Murcian growers,” Gómez said, adding that he hoped in the future the campaign could be extended to other retailers.
