Tentation apples to tempt French

France’s apple category has been buoyed by the first arrivals of Tentation-branded fruit on to supermarket shelves this week.

A consumer campaign for the apple being held from today until January 28 will centre around Epiphany, which remains an important festival in the French calendar.

On www.pomme-tentation.com, consumers can enter a competition to win a weekend staying in a French chateau, as well as plenty of runner-up prizes for the kitchen, all signed by famous West Indian chef Babette de Rozières.

Some 500,000 recipe cards will be distributed in packs of Tentation fruit in France as part of the three-week campaign.

Tentation is a club variety, which in 2006 was grown in seven European countries and also in New Zealand. The fruit is marketed in 10 countries, including the UK and Ireland.