Interview with Karen Mathis:
How important is the UK market for you?
Exports to the UK fell by 13.3 per cent between 2012 and 2013. Exports to Belgium and Sweden were up 47.6 per cent and 49 per cent respectively for the same time period. Most of the export trade is focused on Japan and Europe but the UK remains a very important market for the company.
What are you doing marketing-wise in 2014?
We have an integrated marketing plan for this year including our media lunch that took place on 21 November, and in-store sampling with UK retailers during January.
In addition we have Liz McClarnon, of pop band Atomic Kitten and Celebrity Masterchef fame, working with us for the first time. As spokesperson for the company Liz will develop recipes and she also hosted the media lunch.
What varieties do you export to the UK?
Florida ships the Ruby Red grapefruit variety to the UK, usually referred to as “Pink Grapefruit”.
What is the crop be like this year?
Early samples indicate that this year sweetness is up by 0.5-1.0 brix levels. This season the fruit matured very well due to good conditions, so the size of grapefruit is slightly larger.
Last year we produced 17.7 million boxes of grapefruit and we expect a similar number for this year.
