A promotional campaign for Kanzi, the apple being marketed commercially for the first time in the UK this season, is believed to dwarf any budget seen recently in this market for a single dessert variety.
The highly coloured Gala/Braeburn cross will be backed by a €500,000 (£348,320) promotion across three EU countries, including the UK, launching on November 12. This is an especially large pot for one variety, with UK production this season of just 800 tonnes. The funding has come from the European Kanzi Apple club and its licence holders.
The marketing strategy is designed to introduce this modern variety into the existing range of apples grown in the UK, in the manner of a wine. The term “terroir” is widely used and respected in the wine industry, and is similarly used to describe the Kent locations where Adrian Scripps Ltd planted its first Kanzi trees in 2005 and 2006.
James Simpson, managing director at Scripps, which is the UK’s only grower of Kanzi, said the budget is calculated based on funding by the number of trees planted. “The promotion will be focused on the UK, Belgium and Germany, and the funding will be for this season and the start of next,” he told freshinfo. “There will be more funding for the following years.”
As a member of the European Kanzi Apple Club, Scripps has exclusive marketing rights in the UK. All the club’s members throughout Europe follow the same strict discipline in their production of the apple.
Part of Scripps’ promotion of the variety includes the offer to consumers of a certified tree in the company’s orchard, priced at £10. As part of the deal, they receive 5kg of the fruit and “offset their carbon footprint by 350kg”. This concept will also be used to create greater awareness of the variety, using trees as competition prizes.
Apart from targeting the national media by sending out samples of fruit and offering interviews with James Simpson and other supporting material, partnerships have also been established with celebrity food and health writers.
These include Michael Weiss, executive chef at London’s Coq D’Argent restaurant. Kanzi has also attracted the attention of baby-feeding product manufacturer Tommy Tippee and author Caitlin Finch.
But the campaign will also focus on fresh apple consumption as an enjoyable experience, and Kanzi’s taste will be the focus of a special cocktail created by Gary Hayward, owner of the Boutique bar in Leeds, with supporting notes from Xavier Rousset, sommelier at London’s Texture Restaurant.
This season Kanzi is being sold exclusively by Tesco as a premium variety as part of a deal agreed by Scripps four years ago. “Kanzi will be in most of our stores from November until late January in loose form and in bags,” said Tesco senior fruit buyer Martin de la Fuente. “It will be a key part of our British offer and help extend the season.”
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