Three major new sponsors have signed up to support the Eat in Colour (EiC) campaign to raise fresh produce consumption in the UK.

On the back of a successful first year of the Fresh Produce Consortium’s (FPC) generic campaign, Bayer CropScience,

G’s Marketing and Emmett UK have come bearing gifts to help ensure the initiative delivers increased coverage in the consumer press, leading to greater purchase and consumption of fruit and vegetables. The new firms - plant protection specialists, salad and vegetable suppliers - significantly broaden the support base for EiC.

“As one of the UK’s largest suppliers of salads and vegetables, G’s Marketing is proud to sponsor the EiC initiative,” said the firm’s md Geoff Calder. “We fully support the aims of this campaign in promoting consumption of fruit and vegetables as delicious, convenient and inexpensive components of a healthy diet.”

And EiC campaign chairman Anthony Levy has said he is “delighted” to welcome the new support on board: “These three companies join a group of supporters from across the industry, including Asda, Somerfield and Tesco,” said Levy.

“Their support adds much- needed resources to ensure that the busy programme of PR activities we have planned for the coming year make a real impact on sales,” he added.

EiC’s latest drive goes live this week with www.christmasoffsetting.com, which provides a calculator so that consumers can work out how much fresh produce they need to consume or exercise they need to do to offset their Christmas treats.

“Following the success of chocolate offsetting at Easter, this week sees the yuletide launch of Christmas offsetting,” said Dom Lane of Bray Leino, which runs the EiC campaign for the FPC and is overseen by the consortium’s EiC board. “Visitors to the site are invited to input the scale of their festive indulgence into a special offsetting calendar that will advise on light exercises and diet swaps designed to make amends for that extra helping of Christmas pud or glass of port.

“The web-based healthy eating oracle also contains tips on making the most of leftovers, and a recipe for a smoothie formulated especially for those feeling slightly jaded after their Christmas party.”

Bray Leino has also revealed to FPJ plans for 2008 which will see the new year kick off with Eat in Colour United, a youth football project aimed at school soccer teams, that will provide young players with advice on keeping match fit from premier league nutritionists.

New plans for the campaign also include a partnership with the Scout Association to promote the Healthy Eating badge. The youngest recruits to the movement, Beavers, will be helped by the EiC team to earn the badge, with tips on creating a fruit salad, preparing their own healthy snacks and identifying the key aspects of a balanced diet.

It is hoped that the badge scheme will leave a lasting legacy among six- and seven-year-old boys and girls, creating a generation of youngsters committed to enjoying more fresh produce as part of their daily diet.

In a further bid to drive growth in the market, EiC will be launching a challenge to get the UK workforce to exchange their break-time biscuits for fresh fruit and vegetables. As part of its new mission to encourage higher consumption in the workplace, EiC will be inviting employers to sign up to the Eat in Colour Charter, inspiring bosses to make produce readily available and communicating the benefits of fruit and vegetables to their staff and colleagues.

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