For the last nine years the South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA) has pioneered a drive to develop the UK avocado market and increase consumption.
The association’s annual marketing, promotion and consumer PR campaign is naturally tailored towards the South African season, branded ‘Summer Avocados: Fresh From The South African Sun’. However, this activity has helped in securing significant household penetration increases, and undoubtedly benefited other avocado producing countries that ship to the UK.
According to Richmond Towers, the PR agency behind the SAAGA campaign, consumption rose significantly in the latter part of the last decade. Between 1996, when the campaigning began, and 2000, household penetration doubled to 16 per cent. By 2003 it had reached 18.1 per cent and last year it was 20.8 per cent, which means more than 12 million UK consumers are now buying avocados regularly.
Derek Donkin, general manager at SAAGA, says this increased consumer awareness has been achieved by the association’s tenacious approach. “The secret of our success is consistent investment in promotion every summer for the past nine years, plus not changing our strategy and building on success and relationships.”
Timing is everything, he explains. “Salad consumption increases during the summer months and avocados are the perfect salad fruit. Our research clearly indicates a preference for avocados in the summer when we promote the South African fruit to make it top-of-mind with consumers.”
Promotional activity this year reached its height during July, SAAGA’s designated ‘Summer Avocado Month’, with material published in up to 700 regional newspapers and used on the prominent radio station Capital Gold. The entire summer campaign, which cost more than £1 million, is this year taking the health benefits, as well as the taste and versatility of the fruit, as its focus.
The promotional literature uses medical facts related to the mineral and vitamin benefits of avocados, the anti-aging properties of the fruit and the proven role of avocados in maintaining a healthy heart: it also highlights new research from South Africa that proves avocados can be included in an effective weight-loss diet and Japanese scientific research that indicates the consumption of avocados may reduce liver damage.
In addition a UK consumer information website - www.summeravocados.com - featuring tips on purchasing, nutrition and cooking has been launched, and is being promoted in the literature, as well as by growers on the product’s packaging.
Donkin admits that while SAAGA has hitherto been fairly unique in its persistent support for the product, this could be about to change. “There are moves to get some co-operation with other countries,” he says. “There have been discussions about how we can move forward in doing some kind of integrated promotion, similar to what we have done in the UK in the last few years, and there is a lot of support for this from the retailers and packers in the UK.” This issue will be on the agenda when exporters to the UK assemble in New Zealand in September, he claims.
“We recognise there is an interest from other countries to get involved and do something together which doesn’t relate to a specific country,” Donkin continues. “One example, would be to produce a generic body of recipes or use a certain way of packaging but then different countries can attach their own ideas onto that.”
Clancy McMahon, category buyer at Sainsbury’s, agrees the possibility of increasing sales is dependent on some kind of generic promotion focused on consumer education. She says detailed research has already been carried out by another party showing an interest in joining South Africa to develop a bigger campaign in the UK.
Others remain sceptical about the possibility of joined-up promotions for various reasons. Industry consultant Ali Khas says South Africa is the only country organised enough to manage promotional activity on this scale because production in other countries, such as Chile, is too fragmented. “In the 1970s and 1980s Agrexco promoted Fuerte and spent a lot of money on it but who is going to take on that cost now?”
Gabi Naamani, Agrexco’s fruit division and avocado manager, also dismisses the possibility of international co-operation, insisting more consistent performance and increased availability of product would drive sales more efficiently. “South Africa has done an excellent job in the UK during the past few years,” he says. “But in their period, the European summer, they are very dominant and enjoying the benefit of their investments.” While he does agree this has benefited other producing countries, and allowed them to “ride on the wave” of their drive to stimulate demand, he says the situation is not as simple during the remaining six months of the year.
“In the European winter, there are many sources of supply and some of them, such as Spain and Mexico, will never invest, so those who will invest money may spend a lot for others who are just enjoying the benefits.” In addition it is difficult to find mutual interest among producers since it would suit some, such as Agrexco, to promote green varieties, whereas others would choose to promote Hass, he says.
However, despite the UK preference for Hass, Khas claims it would be beneficial for the UK importers to deviate from their preoccupation with Hass for a brief spell every year.
“There is a gap in April and May, where there just isn’t enough Hass available and because we are forcing South Africa to arrive earlier and earlier there is a problem with the flavour. Consumers accept there is not enough Hass so there is no reason why supermarkets shouldn’t take more Fuerte in that time like the rest of Europe and just run one or two lines of Hass. People would get used to the taste of Fuerte.”
He says the supermarkets refuse to acknowledge the deficit, however, and insist they have sufficient stocks to satisfy demand. But, while this may be true on paper, it does not take into consideration the issue of flavour, he says. “If Fuerte is harvested properly it is really quite good but the problem is people are not used to the taste so we need to do some specific promotion targeting Fuerte.”
Price promotions, however, should not be the only method for attracting additional shoppers, Khas claims. “There is a feeling that you have got to drop the price to generate sales but a lot of people have never tasted it before. Of course, if you drop the price from, say, 69p to 39p you will increase sales by 30 to 40 per cent but if they have never eaten it they won’t repeat the purchase.” Given the fact that avocados need to be left to ripen and consumed in a certain way, consumers need more information to have a positive experience of the product, Khas claims.
Clive Bayston, commercial manager at Melrow Salads, agrees avocados have often been afflicted with ill-favoured misconceptions. “I think there is definitely work to be done in terms of informing customers about the health benefits,” he says. “A lot of people think they are too high in fat but they don’t realise it’s purely vegetable fat with no cholesterol.”
He says the best way to raise acceptance of the product would be to get one of the well-known media chefs to endorse it, and demonstrate the versatility of avocado in a range of recipes.
Khas agrees, adding that supermarkets also have a major role to play in this and believes they should be harnessing the modern technology available to them in order to assist shoppers in their understanding of the product. “The best idea would be to have in-store tastings with people demonstrating how to use avocados,” he says. “In my experience when supermarkets have done this they have doubled their sales.” Khas suggests it would be very easy for the supermarkets to display video programmes, showing how to eat avocados and the health benefits of the fruit. And with people increasingly relying on the internet for research, supermarkets should maximise the potential of this resource in manipulating shopping tactics, he says.
Donkin claims that while SAAGA is not involved in any retail-specific promotions, supermarkets can use the information produced by the organisation in their own promotions. With the right support, avocado could become a much more mainstream product, he suggests. “If you look at how it has been growing, there is definitely a feeling there will be continued growth,” says Donkin. “We don’t believe avocados are anything like a commodity product.”
Bayston agrees: “People are getting more adventurous in their use of avocados because of the influence of foreign cooking. The southern American countries use avocados in everything and the use of dips and sauces is definitely becoming more important over here.”
He claims there is also marketing potential for the processing sector, given the benefits of the oil itself for cooking and for skin care products, and expects these subsidiary markets to assume increasing importance in the future.
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