A pioneering campaign backed by the South African stonefruit industry and the South African government to promote the country as the preferred source of plums and as a top tourist destination has been launched in London.
The £300,000 equal joint venture will focus on plum arrivals from January to March, together with tourist promotions.
Jasmine Harman, who presents Channel 4 show A Place in the Sun, kicked off the campaign at a gala dinner for 30 industry figures at The Dorchester on Tuesday.
The plums will be sold with the slogan ‘Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit’ under the South Africa: Alive with Possibility brand.
The big four retailers - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons - will hold a range of tailored promotions, including branded sampling in store and a free themed recipe booklet in plum packs.
Advertorials in consumer magazines including BBC Good Food, Food & Travel, Good Housekeeping and Olive will support the campaign.
A €200,000 (£182,000) campaign has been mounted in Germany. The two countries together take 50 per cent of total South African plum exports.
Stefan Conradie, product manager at the Stonefruit Joint Marketing Forum, told freshinfo: “What we would like to do in South Africa is build a model that we can apply to other product types. I am involved with top fruit and other stonefruit and we believe there is a lot of potential in these categories. Ideally, when this initiative ends in April, we would like to take it and adjust it for other South African fruit - that is our goal.
“We chose the UK and Germany because they are our main markets, but we have found that while interest in the countries is high, the actual knowledge and consumption of plums is low…
“We are trying to create a win-win situation. The South African government understands the value of tourism, but we want to show them that fruit can add something to South Africa as a tourist destination.”
The initiative, which has been in the making for two years, will be reviewed at the end of March, with feedback from stakeholders and retailers.
