Peruvian Hass avocados will get an end-of-season boost following a new promotion campaign run by the Peru Trade & Investment Office in partnership with importer Greencell.
Country of origin branding, recipes, and key facts will appear on packs of Hass avocados sold at Waitrose for the last two weeks of the season, while a wider communications campaign will engage food writers and journalists.
It is the first time the organisation, which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and works under the umbrella of the Peruvian Embassy, has funded avocado promotion in the UK. Greencell’s contribution came from its position as a key Waitrose supplier, as an entry point for the campaign into UK retail stores.
Piloting this year, the campaign is expected to increase for the 2016 season and may also expand to include other Peruvian products. It is working closely with the promotional campaign run by ProHass, present in the UK market since 2009, by coordinating approaches and sharing resources.
“The Trade & Investment Office works to develop business for Peruvian products and Hass avocados are one of Peru’s most promising exports to the UK,” said Jaime Cardenas, director of the Peru Trade & Investment Office.
Cardenas said avocado exports to the UK from Peru rose by 68 per cent in value and 69 per cent in volume between 2014 and 2015. Sales of avocados in the UK market rose by nine per cent last year, according to figures from the Peru Trade & Investment Office.
“There is still exciting potential to develop sales of this fruit in this market,” said Cardenas. “We’re really pleased to be launching activity in stores and in the media that is designed to support this process.”
Arturo Medina, general manager of ProHass, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Peruvian Government for the benefit of our growers and customers in the UK.
“Our promotional work has helped develop the market for Peruvian Hass avocados during the past seven seasons and the activity organised by the Peru Trade & Investment Office extends the reach of the campaign significantly.”
ProHass’ campaign has this year included tastings in Marks & Spencer and Tesco, recipe development, photography and social media. The Peru Trade & Investment Office’s campaign will only appear in Waitrose stores.
The Peru avocado season runs from May until September.
