Sales of Comber potatoes more than doubled, year-on-year, in Northern Irish Tesco outlets during the months of July and August.
The retailer joined forces with the management team at Wilson’s Country, which came up with a marketing campaign designed to communicate the quality of Comber potatoes in a positive and impactful manner.
Tesco Northern Ireland’s commercial manager, Cliff Kells, said:“We wanted to champion the cause of Comber Earlies, given the tremendous work put in by growers and the other agri/food stakeholder groups to achieve Protected Geographical Indication, or PGI status, for these wonderful potatoes with such a unique heritage.
“It is often overlooked that we here in Northern Ireland can produce food that is on a par with the highest standards achieved throughout the other regions of Europe. And the ethos behind Comber Earlies is an excellent example of this.'
Wilson’s managing director Lewis Cunningham explained that the company’s team had devised a completely new in-store sales platform for this year’s Comber crop. This included the use of paper ventilated bags, which were show cased in purpose designed wooden display boxes.
“This gave a very authentic feel to the marketing of the potatoes as did our decision not to wash the potatoes, communicating a ‘freshly dug’ image, which went down particularly well with shoppers,” he added.
Kells concluded:“The results of this year’s campaign are all the more remarkable, given the fall-off in potato consumption of recent years. I would like to congratulate the team at Wilson’s Country for the innovation they have shown in coming up with this year’s Comber campaign. And, obviously, we want to build on this for the future.”
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