The first volume of this season’s Spanish Superior Seedless® is now in UK stores, with exporters facing a tougher than normal selection process following poor weather during the growing period.
Rain and a general lack of sunlight during the key flowering period has delayed the 2004 campaign by 10-14 days. The likely end of the season will also be put back, with growers predicting a finish around August 10.
Early predictions of a 10 per cent hike in volumes have been re-assessed. While there is plenty of fruit around, the mild spring delayed setting and has caused a few problems with sizing, which will in turn reduce marketable fresh volumes. Sendings to the UK market will remain largely unchanged on last season, however, at around 8,500 tonnes (figures from Foods from Spain).
“The early part of the season will be so so, but the full season is going to be a good one,” Enrique Moya of Frutas del Guadalentín in Murcia told the Journal. “I think it will split the season in two and the sizing differentials in bunches will complicate the grading process. It will be harder work in the fields and the packhouses, but quality is outstanding and I think we will all be happy at the end of the season.”
The season in the UK will be backed by a Foods from Spain promotional campaign. The support is double the size of last year, and marks the start of a three-year concerted push for Spanish seedless grape, which primarily is targeted at Superior Seedless®.
Work has already kicked off in retail stores and national consumer and trade media, under the slogan “Spanish Seedless Grape - The Everyday Summer Treat”. A £380,000 rate-card media spend will also cover trolley posters, a national poster campaign outside supermarkets, and in-store radio coverage throughout July. In-store promotions will be given a kids theme to appeal to mothers with young children.
The campaign aims to emphasise the grape as a healthy snacking alternative to sweets and crisps. A logo has been developed to feature on all creative work, focusing on the Spanish heritage of the product, and particularly that it is grown in Murcia.
Maria José Sevilla, director of Foods from Spain, said: “Research shows that mothers are increasingly concerned about the health and diet of their children and that is one of their primary motivations for buying fruit.”
Sevilla added: “Spain accounts for more than 30 per cent of all fresh produce sold in the UK market and we believe consumption levels should be higher than they are. We will continue to market our products actively and to support sales within our retail partners.”
The campaign is part funded by growers association Asociación Apirenas and ICEX (the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).
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