The South African fruit industry is set to kick off the third round of its cross-category promotional campaign in the UK when the new stonefruit season gets underway in December.
The Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit initiative will have a budget of £225,000 from plum growers and £120,000 from peach and nectarine producers.
The aim is to lift South African stonefruit sales by 10-15 per cent over the next four years.
The category will be promoted as a winter option to help boost Kantar Worldpanel figures that show that only around 15 per cent of stonefruit is purchased from December to March.
The 2011-12 integrated campaign will feature QR codes on packs so that consumers with a smartphone can scan packs and posters for more information and a social media debut under the Twitter name @SAfruit.
The top-fruit industry’s contribution will be confirmed next month, and the grapefruit pot will be decided on early next year. The government’s contribution will be confirmed by the end of the month.
Jacques du Preez, product manager for top- and stonefruit at Hortgro Services, said: “Our target is modest. Stonefruit is not top of mind in the winter, but we believe there is a lot of potential. The activity we are unveiling this year is part of our commitment to supporting the development of South African fruit in the UK and to improving the tools that we use to do this.”
