Asda has become the first retailer to make a £75,000 pledge to support a generic promotion to boost fresh produce consumption.
The Wal-Mart owned business has signed up to the Fresh Produce Consortium’s proposed Eat in Colour project, and is urging other retailers and businesses in the sector to follow its example and commit to the scheme.
The retailer’s £75,000 will be spread over three years, and the FPC is asking the industry to help fund the cost of the campaign to the tune of £500,000 a year.
The proposed PR plan is intended to embrace existing schemes while drawing on the colourful appeal of fruit and vegetables to promote consumption.
Alyson Daykin, Asda’s produce marketing director, said she attended the September presentation on Eat in Colour and got involved after discussions with the FPC.
“We decided we wanted to support the campaign. It’s very important and will help improve consumer health as well as drive sales.”
She called on the whole industry to follow suit: “If everyone can get involved then it will be a much more successful campaign and help fight the obesity problem in the UK. We don’t want it to just be about Asda customers, we want it to be everyone.”
The news has been welcomed by Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the FPC. “We’re delighted that a major retailer has committed its support and we look forward to welcoming the others.”
However, he urged all in the fresh produce industry to get on board, and not just leave it to the retailers.
In the meantime support for the campaign was beginning to gather pace, he said: “The interest has been strong to date and many businesses are considering their positions at board level.”
The FPC will be consolidating the responses over the coming weeks and Jenney said he was confident of having further positive news.
Generic promotion is also proving a popular concept on the Continent with a number of associations in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria pushing for the creation of a campaign to promote apples within the European Union.
At the moment, details of the campaign, which would be the first of its kind, are under discussion, but a plan is expected to be presented to the European Commission by November 2006. Associations taking part in the talks include French fresh produce representative Interfel, Italy’s Assomela, Eurofel and a number of Dutch organisations.
Meanwhile, perhaps as proof of the power of campaigning, English apple producers are riding high on a wave of promotion, with early indications suggesting one of the best seasons, on volume sales, for many years.
The hard work of the industry and its supporting retail partners has seen the volume rise by a significant 40 per cent so far, with last week’s sales alone up 70 per cent, year-on-year.
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