Winning an award judged by your peers is an impressive accolade in the fresh produce industry, when business can be tough and competition fierce. But for JP Fruit, a Kent-based fruit marketer and distributor in the UK and Ireland, this success was two-fold, for not only did it win the Re:fresh 2006 British Airways World Cargo Importer of the Year Award, but it also took home the title of Tesco Overall Produce Trader of the Year.
Competing against some of the country’s largest fresh produce businesses to take home the supreme title, Dickon Poole, JP’s marketing manager says the company was stunned when its name was called out: “Importer of the year was the one we went for, but we were absolutely over the moon when we got the other one,” he says. “Our trading director Tony Gardner didn’t even have a speech prepared.”
JP, a subsidiary of the Jamaica Producers Group Ltd, sources bananas - accounting for around 50 per cent of its business - topfruit, citrus, melons pineapples and grapes from all over the world. It also ripens and distributes bananas from ripening centres in the UK which it claims are among the largest and most technically advanced in Europe.
JP’s success has somewhat snowballed over the last few years. Poole says this is down to a shift in attitude brought about by the appointment of some dynamic new directors, which has driven the business forward: “We have got a change of mood at the company,” he says. “Having got our act together and got ourselves a good team doing a lot of work with customers, things have changed in the last few years quite significantly. We’ve got a good management team in trading director Tony Gardner, financial director Karen Scott and our new managing director, Dave Maynard, is like a breath of fresh air. Together they are a very good and experienced young team and we are taking a new and fresh approach to many things.”
Awarding JP the title of Overall Produce Trader of the Year, judges cited, among other factors, the company’s commitment to supply chain efficiency, its acceptance of innovation and technological advancements, and its partnerships within the sector.
They also noted how the company embraced the marketing and promotion of fruit as a key business function.
Targeting both the mainstream and trade press, JP has certainly established a keen media presence in recent months. On Valentine’s Day its red Macabu bananas were featured on national television, radio, websites, and in many major newspapers.
Focusing on in-store promotion, Poole says the team has been looking at its packaging and presentation, developing bespoke merchandising units to make its fruit as appealing as possible - a concept that Poole says is working very well.
“We’re also working closely on monitoring how efficient [in-store] promotions are,” he reveals. “A lot of money is spent on these promotions, for example BOGOF or getting extra free - we might as well make sure they work effectively,” he says.
Being well organised in terms of retail promotions is important to the business, according to Poole, and the company applies this forward thinking to all of its operations. “One thing this industry still suffers from is a day-to-day trading [mentality],” he says. “I came in at JP because they wanted some marketing expertise and some forward planning. It’s about making sure you’ve got the crop volumes, and the plot time can be as much as six months ahead. If you want a Christmas promotion, you have to make sure stuff is in the ground now.”
This organised approach appears to be paying off. Poole says that sales of pineapples rose by 45 per cent last year and by 35 per cent this year so far on the back of such promotions. “We as a company are being much more marketing focused. We concentrate on customers to drive their sales and I think [interfacing with customers] is where we’ve got a point of difference,” he says. “The produce industry is slowly getting there,” he says.
Part of this marketing focus is promoting the JP brand and supporting the 5 A DAY initiative through school visits, fun days and its website. Members of the fresh produce industry - or even just regular motorway drivers - cannot fail to have noticed JP’s ubiquitous ‘lovefruit!’ Have you had your 5 a Day? logo - emblazoned on lorries in splashes of bright green and yellow. Indeed, it was this marketing tool that earned the company its Re:fresh 5 A DAY Supporter of the Year Award last year. “We are trying to bring interest and fun to the fresh produce industry,” Poole says. “Children are as much our audience as adults.”
In an effort to encourage consumption further, JP has enlisted the help of champion rower Andrew Hodge, who will appear on lorries and take part in marketing campaigns to promote healthy eating in the run-up to the Olympics in 2012.
However, Poole adds that other non-produce companies are getting in on the health-message act and targeting the industry’s audience. “Every company out there is looking to find and sell healthier products. People are concerned about that but the challenge is to actually do something about it - I do think the industry’s working up to it though.”
Autumn will also see the lorries featuring a Union Jack promoting the English apple and pear season, on the back of JP’s partnership with Kent-based grower Newmafruit.
Along with its other commercial partnerships, this partnership promotion was another reason why JP took home its awards this year, and, according to Poole, these business alliances are a key part of the company’s approach. He explains that everyone in the JP supply chain has helped make the business so successful: “There’s no way we could drive the business forward without a good grower base - it’s absolutely fundamental in performing well and having the edge over your competitors,” he says.
While marketing and promotion make up a big part of JP’s more visible success, there are a lot of other factors that won it credence with the Re:fresh judges. JP has been looking carefully at the efficiency of its supply chain, a move that has complemented its expertise in sourcing and distributing produce, Poole explains: “As a business you’re constantly looking at how to do things better. Supermarkets are always looking to reduce costs, but it’s actually an ongoing discipline for us. We have numerous charts that plot the cost of every point at every stage.
“We’ve been working hard [on supply chain efficiency] to remain competitive. We have good products, good growers, a good transport network, good marketing expertise - all of these drive the business forward. You’re looking at the whole chain all the time and if you’re not doing that, you will soon be out of kilter.”
As well as looking to expand its organic range in recent months, JP has also responded to customer trends for Fairtrade produce: one sector that is seeing sustained high-growth rates. As part of this, it adheres to several practices designed to help support corporate social responsibility, including full membership of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). It also encourages its suppliers to use Sedex, a web-based system for companies to maintain data on labour practices at production sites and make it available to their customers, in order to drive and demonstrate improvement.
In addition, JP has been looking at innovative new technologies and new varieties to improve its offering, ensuring that it supplies its customers with the freshest and sweetest varieties possible. More recently, it has carried out trials to extend the shelf life of melons, and the supply of its topfruit and citrus.
Overall, JP appears to be going from strength to strength. With a £175 million turnover last year, and boasting custom from many of the UK’s top retailers, the mood within the company is a positive one. “I think it’s just a whole change in management application,” Poole says. “We have become much more proactive and aware of the market situation to make sure that our business is always going forward.
“We would now rate ourselves as one of the top five fruit companies in the UK, and while other companies specialise in top fruit or citrus, we are one of the few companies that have four large strong legs to our stool. This helps us to have a better idea of the market place and what’s going on rather than having a small part of the sector,” he says.
And being a three-time Re:fresh award winner is not something the company is blasé about, Poole says. All three accolades will soon be used on its lorries along with its company logo. “I think our shareholders are very pleased to get the awards. It’s a change of pace. A lot of hard work its suddenly being recognised and it’s taking a higher profile. I think the company has hidden its light under a bushel up until now,” he says.“It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a tough industry.”
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