The Sunshine Fruits from France campaign will for the first time this year join forces with Redbridge Holdings to boost the wholesale trade of French summer fruit.
From July, nine wholesale markets across the UK will be taking part in activities to incentivise traders to increase sales.
Volumes of French summer fruit exports have been in steady decline over the past few years, with peach and nectarines down by 25 per cent and pears by 17 per cent.
In an attempt to reverse this downward trend, exporters and producers of different summer lines have pooled their resources, putting together £60,000 for a generic promotional campaign.
In addition to the wholesale activity, the 2006 Sunshine Fruits campaign will again include in-store tastings for apricots, in Waitrose and M&S. Several retailers will also carry an on-pack promotion offering consumers the chance to claim a free pair of summer flip-flops in return for two proofs of purchase of a number of French fruits.
According to Daniel Obadia, president of the French apricot committee, pictured, the decline in French fruit exports has been caused by the sector’s lack of co-ordination. “In terms of communication, the campaigns of our competitors are much more aggressive,” he said.
“Spain, for instance, has improved the quality of its production in line with our standards and prices are lower so it is seen as better value. They also have much bigger budgets for promotion - five or even 10 times as much as we can raise.”
Obadia, left, said peach and nectarine producers have felt the loss of a national association, but that the new organisation formed by some of the sector’s marketing organisations, Ecopeche, could help to reverse the decline.
“The aim is to co-operate on a more global level to improve the commercial organisation of the sector, and once this is achieved, we will hopefully see better results.”
While production of peaches and nectarines has fallen rapidly in France, with growers opting out of horticulture altogether in some cases, Obadia said apricot producers are in a more fortunate position.
