End of Eat in Colour era

Eat in Colour has reached an audience of 465 million in its three-year life span but will now just run as a consumer-facing website.

The campaign was created by the Fresh Produce Consortium and secured financial backing from the trade as well as Tesco, Asda and Somerfield to offer tips and advice on getting more fresh produce into the nation’s diet without preaching a hackneyed and off-putting healthy-eating message.

Run by pr agency Bray Leino, the campaign’s media relations inspired more than 500 pieces of media coverage, reaching nearly 350m readers, more than 95m listeners and 20m TV viewers.

Jim Rogers, FPC president, said: “When we launched Eat in Colour, overall consumption of fresh produce was static and over the past three years we have seen a modest increase in consumption. This is due in part to the contribution of the campaign. Whilst individual product campaigns can increase sales, this can often be to the detriment of another product line, with the risk that overall consumption of fresh produce remains unchanged, whereas the purpose of a generic campaign such as Eat In Colour is to increase interest in all fresh produce. At the same time, the 5 A DAY campaign has helped to raise consumer awareness, but has not translated to date into significant changes in consumers’ eating habits.”

But three years further on and with greater rationalisation in the produce business, the campaign is being scaled back.

Rogers said: “The fresh produce industry is under significant financial pressure and we appreciate that there have been some difficult decisions to make. Following consultation with FPC members we will maintain our strategy to increase consumption of fresh produce and encourage consumers to enjoy a healthy diet. The FPC is working with government and other agencies to ensure that fresh produce is recognised for its significant contribution in improving the nation’s diet. Eat In Colour will continue in a more modest form, with the consumer-facing website demonstrating that eating more fruit and vegetables is good for you, is easy, fun and inexpensive. We will, of course, have the ability to review the strategy in the future.”

In total, Bray Leino ran 18 different projects and highlights included chocolate off-setting at Easter, a tour and a scouting badge. Although detractors felt it lacked the focus of product-specific initiatives, it achieved unprecedented coverage for fresh produce in The Sun.

Anthony Levy, chairman of the campaign, believes this focus has left a lasting legacy: “The past three years have demonstrated that a generic campaign on behalf of the whole of the fresh produce industry can get coverage when it is creatively led. With very limited funds and with terrific enthusiasm from Bray Leino, our PR agency, we have been successful in generating a huge amount of coverage in major newspapers, magazines and online.

“We know that there is broad awareness that we all ought to eat more fruit and vegetables, but the old 5 A DAY campaign had failed to change behaviour significantly. Eat in Colour charted a different course from this, encouraging and helping people in very practical ways, inspiring consumption rather than preaching.”