How did it feel to be triumphant at Re:fresh last May?
Everyone at Foods from Spain is delighted that the Re:fresh judges have recognised our campaign once again. The integrated promotional effort has been running since 2004 and aims to promote Spanish fresh produce across a variety of media. It consists of campaigns for specific fruits taking place independently, while maintaining a strong generic identity for produce from Spain.
This campaign was the latest development in Spain’s long tradition of promoting within the UK market and has been instrumental in boosting awareness and sales of Spanish fresh produce lines such as Picota cherries and persimon.
We co-ordinate promotional activity on produce at the point of sale and in the media, and have complemented this with two generic initiatives: the National Primary Schools Competition, which encourages classes of schoolchildren to learn about Spanish produce and make collages on the subject; and the Spanish Young Chef of the Year competition, which asks young chefs to take inspiration from Spanish cuisine and ingredients.
The campaign is a huge project, which requires us to involve representatives across a number of important sectors, from importers and retailers to journalists and chefs. We have had great success in doing this and have worked extremely hard to get the results we have achieved. So it is incredibly satisfying to have this recognised with the Pr3 Marketing Campaign of the Year award at Re:fresh.
What does the award mean to you and the industry?
Spain remains the leading source country exporting to the UK, with approximately 30 per cent of the total overseas produce that arrives into this country. The Re:fresh award highlights the work of everybody involved in the campaign, including the entire supply chain right back to the growers, who continue to supply great-quality produce to the British market. If we didn’t deliver this basic requirement, our campaign would not be sustainable. It is the latest milestone in Spain’s long trading relationship with the UK.
What are the key elements to running a successful PR campaign?
It is our job to support sales of Spanish fresh produce with well-targeted activity that ultimately leads to increases in purchases, either by encouraging new consumers to try products such as the persimon, or by stimulating existing consumers to buy a greater volume of more established lines, such as Spanish berries.
The retailers play their part by listing our products. We therefore need to help them - and by extension Spanish growers - maximise the opportunity with their customers by supporting the produce in the most effective way possible and communicating to them the reasons they should be purchasing from Spain.
Our promotional campaign comprises many elements, including those that directly influence sales such as in-store tasting events and on-pack offers, and those with a significant indirect effect on awareness of Spanish fresh produce, such as editorial features and our generic competitions. We are always adapting our campaign to changes in the marketplace - most recently responding to the pressures on shoppers created by the recession - but we think our experience in this area allows us to get the balance right, which has yielded some fantastic results for Spanish fresh produce.
What do you see as the most successful events and activities related to the campaign?
All the elements of the campaign work together to produce results, so it’s difficult to single out a specific one. However, it’s worth mentioning that a great deal of the success of this campaign is a product of great relationships with stakeholders in the supply chain and in the media. These help us to tailor the activity more closely to the needs of specific retailer customers or specific media outlets, which in turn helps us get better results.
Where do you see Spain’s standing in the UK market?
As I mentioned, Spain is the main source for overseas fresh produce into the UK and there is also tremendous good will toward Spanish suppliers following decades of productive trading with Britain. However, we won’t rest on our laurels and aim to continue our initiatives to support our products here.
How important do you feel it is to work with young people, given the success of the Spanish Young Chef of the Year initiative?
It’s essential. It’s no accident that both our generic initiatives - the National Primary Schools Competition and the Spanish Young Chef of the Year competition - are aimed at young people, with the former targeting the next generation of shoppers, and the latter targeting talented chefs who are likely to have a significant influence over what ingredients and cuisines British people will be excited by in the future.
What are your thoughts on the 5 A DAY campaign? How do you think fresh produce consumption could be boosted further?
We use the 5 A DAY logo wherever we can in our promotional activity, from advertising to in-store activities. Foods from Spain fully supports the 5 A DAY message and has been very pleased to see how understanding of this simple consumption goal has grown among British shoppers. We want to demonstrate the role that Spanish fresh produce can play in helping people increase their consumption and reach this target.
Is there anything you think Spanish producers do well that UK growers and produce companies could take note and inspiration from?
Spain has consistently promoted its fresh produce in the UK market, but has co-ordinated itself well to develop a campaign that communicates a strong generic message, as well as the specific unique selling points of each of the products within it. This way, Spanish fresh produce receives a greater benefit than if each product were promoted on a wholly independent basis.
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