Californian cherry producers are considering pooling resources with their Northwest counterparts to boost promotional capabilities.
Michael Rucier, from the Californian Cherry Advisory Board, said they had held a recent meeting with Northwest Cherries to talk about areas of co-operation, one of which could see them combining their resources to offer better promotion capabilities to UK retailers.
“None of it has solidified yet and it’s really early days, but we’re always looking for ways to co-operate without encroaching on each other. It makes sense to work together.”
He said while the situation was still up in the air, he did not rule out the two groups getting together in time for this season. “I think it will probably all come together quite quickly.” Both groups would retain their distinctive brands he said.
Rucier was in the UK to visit retailers, including Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, ahead of the coming season to talk about potential promotional plans. “We’re finding out whether our promotions worked for them or not and how we can improve. We don’t know our final budget, but its unlikely to be down on last year’s.”
Last year proved to be a massive success for the Californian industry, with volumes sold in the UK hitting a record high of more than 131,000 18lb boxes.
Rucier said an early start to US production by two weeks, combined with a late start by European producers, gave them a clear run at the UK market. “We had no competition from Europe, so all the retailers were taking our cherries.”
At the moment while it is a little too early in the year to tell, he said the crop was shaping up nicely.
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