The UK's major supermarkets are set to embark upon a new promotional campaign for a premium clementine as increases in worldwide supply strengthen the product.
The ClemenGold will be supported with packaging and promotional activity designed to develop the market further and introduce the fruit to more shoppers in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Asda.
The fruit has established itself in the major UK supermarkets during the British summer over the past six years - a time when high-quality clementines have traditionally been in short supply.
But this is the first co-ordinated campaign for the high-class product, which has a network of growers worldwide.
The campaign will focus on the southern hemisphere main season from mid-July to mid-September - from sources including South Africa, Australia, Argentina and Uruguay - with future promotions set to encompass the northern hemisphere.
The aim is to gain continuity of supply for at least nine months of the year to allow momentum to build behind the product, which already has campaigns scheduled in Europe and the Far East as part of a long-term marketing strategy.
The campaign will include tasting events in stores, information booklets and a competition to win a holiday, as well as online advertising and samples distributed to journalists working in the trade and consumer press. Sampling activities at key outdoor leisure venues are also planned.
Michelle Kruger, chief operating officer of the ClemenGold Company, told freshinfo: “We are starting the campaign in the UK as it is a very strong market for us and there is not much product on the market when it is in season. We want to maintain and expand the ClemenGold’s profile with an emphasis on its quality as the best Clementine on the market.
“It has a very high spec and it is important that this quality is sustained. This is a product we really believe in and there will be continuing promotions every season.
“Working closely with retailers, importers and journalists in the UK, we aim to establish ClemenGold in the minds of consumers, as one of the best-tasting, highest-quality clementines on the market that is available for most of the year.”
Last season, 650,000 cartons of ClemenGold were exported from South Africa and a similarly positive season is expected this year. There will be domestic promotions around the product during the football World Cup in June, with jugglers out on the street for the campaign.
The ClemenGold name is owned and managed by the ClemenGold Company, part of the South African company Citrogold (Pty) Ltd. It is based on the Nardorcott variety, a Murcott and clementine cross originating in Morocco.
Abs van Rooyen, chief executive of the ClemenGold Company, said: “To qualify as ClemenGold, we require that our selected producers provide fruit that conforms to consistent quality specifications. The most important of these is a ratio of sugar to acid of a minimum of 10. The fruit must be sweet, with minimum brix levels of 11.5, and acid no higher than 1.5. Externally, the skin must be smooth, with a deep orange colour and no green specks. The spec for ClemenGold also stipulates that fruit must be allowed to ripen naturally."
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