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Number 1/2018 – 27 February 2018
Note from the editor: We’re off to a fresh start!
This New Year has come with new energy and eagerness to try new things and do something different! This year we’re off to a fresh start with new year’s resolutions to eat at least 400g of fruit and vegetables per day (five portions, including on the weekend), drink lots of water and stay active! It seems as though everyone across Europe has also had a similar idea to make 2018 the year that they concentrate on their health and ensure that that they’re leading a healthy, balanced and most importantly fun lifestyle! Already this year in January and February, we’ve seen many promising trends of people incorporating fruits and vegetables into their daily diets and lifestyles. This has even extended to annual celebrations such as Valentines Day! These have not just been for the 20-30 year olds either – many educational campaigns are also paying particular attention to children and the elderly to ensure that they too get their 400g of fruit and vegetables in per day!
The EU: Love is in the air
Vegetables and Fruit Heart Shaped
Isn’t everyone looking for that extra special gift for their other half on Valentines Day? This year the choice of gifts was even larger with the normal range of romantic offerings extending to the fruit and vegetable aisle. Valentines fruit and vegetables you ask? There isn’t a heart-shaped fresh produce product available. This Valentine’s however, a large variety of delectable fruits and vegetables were available in heart-shaped packaging so that anyone could make a healthy and romantic offering of delicious as well as nutritious fruits and vegetables to their valentine. Many retail outlets across Europe offered customers a range of Valentine’s Day fresh produce gifts, such as strawberries and grapes in heart-shaped packaging and kiwis in special Valentine’s Day boxing. If you were looking for something a little subtler, the apple variety Pink Lady was additionally promoted as the ideal apple for Valentine’s Day due to is pink appearance and sweet-sour taste and complementary flavour profile to Rose wine.
The UK: We need #VegPower!
Who needs super power when you can have #VegPower! Veg Power is the latest campaign in the UK to raise awareness of not only healthy eating, but the importance of the promotion of vegetables to children in advertising. #VegPower is part of Peas Pleas, which looks at the food system to find ways to overcome barriers to eating vegetables. As part of the #VegPower campaign, a Veg Ad Fund has been established to gather contributions from the Government, retailers, producers and private citizens that will give vegetables the marketing budget they need to compete with advertising from other processed and less healthy food categories. #VegPower advertising is already in 5,000 locations across the UK! If you would like to be a part of Veg Power, visit the website and grab some carrots and your camera and take your carrot picture, and spread the word on social media using #VegPower. You can also download posters to print at your school, canteen, workplace or kitchen!
Belgium: Smoothie Stations coming your way!
What’s the fastest you’ve ever made a delicious and nutritious smoothie full of whole fruits and vegetables? The new Alberts Smoothie Station prepares a smoothie of water and frozen fruits and vegetables in less than 60 seconds! If that isn’t enough, you can create a fresh, personalised smoothie health boost in an instant at Smoothie Stations across Belgium. Find your nearest Smoothie Station here. If you can’t choose what flavour combination you’ll like best or want next, download the Smoothie Station app, which can create your own favourite smoothie mix and send it to the Smoothie Station to create! If you think this is a fantastic invention, you’re right! The Smoothie Station recently won the European Future of Nutrition Award 2017, which is awarded by nutrition and technology experts to young entrepreneurs that create an innovative concept that can bring about profound change in the food sector. What are you waiting for, get your first Smoothie Station smoothie on the go!
The Netherlands: Dr. Good Food to the rescue
Have you ever wondered what the connection is between food and health? Eosta’s newest campaign, ‘Dr Good Food’ is here to help you figure out the role your diet plays on your overall health and wellbeing, especially the inclusion of plenty of highly nutritious fruit and vegetables! The ‘Dr Good Food’ campaign was launched at the Fruit Logistica and BioFach trade fairs in Berlin and Nuremberg recently and is in the last stages of website and social media development before it is launched to the public in the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia. Eosta has teamed up with doctors, and food and health organisations and NGOs to raise awareness amongst the public about the significance of making proactive decisions about fruit and vegetable intake in daily lifestyles. Later in the year promotional campaigns with retailers are set to take place, including flash mobs of students dressed up as doctors spreading the word of fruit and vegetables by handing out samples of nutritious fresh produce.
Poland: A new diet pyramid for the elderly
Have you ever thought about how your diet and nutrition needs will change in the future? In January the Polish Food and Nutrition Institute organized the Third National Food Congress in Warsaw where the focus was not on young people but the elderly! The Institute of Food and Nutrition dedicated the Congress to the issues of nutrition and physical activity for elderly people, looking at the differences specific dietary and exercise needs of people later in life. Here, the Institute, presented and promoted a new Pyramid of Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity for the elderly. In conjunction with a list of Ten Principles of Healthy Nutrition specifically tailored to the dietary and exercise needs of older people, the pyramid emphasizes the need for regular consumption of nutritious meals, including frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables. The purpose of the new pyramid is to guide older people in understanding their changing nutrition needs and implement them to ensure an active and healthy lifestyle later in life.
Germany: All aboard!
The German Apple Day was celebrated all over Germany on the 11 January this year, however if you were travelling around by train in or through Germany that week you would have noticed more apples than usual! During the week not only trains were rolling into stations to collect passengers, but also fresh crisp apples that were locally cultivated. From the 8-12 January promotional activities on apples took place at Berlin, Hanover, Mainz, Cologne and Munich stations as part of Deutsche Bahn’s “That’s green” and BVEO’s “Germany – My Garden” campaigns. At the selected stations travellers, as well as train drivers, were able to cycle on apple-green smoothie bikes and were shown different ways to eat regional and seasonal apples from Germany. Travellers were also able to learn about the benefits of eating apples produced in Germany. Did you know that apples are the most popular fruit consumed in Germany? Each year Germans consume on average about 9kg of apples – about 59 apples a year!
France: Generation F&V
Are you part of ‘Generation fresh fruits and vegetables’? From the 24 February to the 4 March, Interfel is inviting the public to discover fresh fruits and vegetables at the International Exhibition of Agriculture at Porte de Versailles. Within the universe of fresh fruits and vegetables Interfel has created three play and educational areas for the general public to explore the delights of fruit and vegetables. One of the areas is a botanical space where you can explore and encounter the universe of fresh fruit and vegetables through the eyes of science, which was developed in conjunction with CTIFL. Another area is a culinary space. Managed by a chef, a dietitian and a presenter, the team will tickle your taste buds with delicious and nutritious flavours of fruit and vegetables and demonstrate how to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. The third space is a live space with an interactive screen and space for meetings and exchanges for industry professionals.
The UK: Change your diet, change your life
Public Health England (PHE) is helping parents to ensure their children are snacking on healthy food products instead of unhealthy snacks and drinks. PHE has launched the Change4Life campaign, which specifically promotes healthy snacks, such as fruit and vegetables, to parents and children. The Change4Life campaign encourages parents to offer ‘100 calorie snacks, two a day max’ to encourage them to purchase healthier snacks for their children than they currently buy. However, the rule does not include fruit and vegetables, which are encouraged to be eaten in a large variety so that children achieve their minimum ‘5 A Day’ portion. The Change4Life campaign website also includes a dedicated section for fruit and vegetable snack eating tips, where many delicious and nutritious snack ideas can be found. As part of the campaign, selected supermarkets are helping to provide tasty and healthy snacking products and parents can get money-off vouchers to help them purchase and try out healthier snack options for their children.
France: So tasty, SO France
Who hasn’t felt a little bit French when walking to their local fruit and vegetable market to fill up their basket with delicious and healthy fresh produce? L’Agence de l’alimentation de Nouvelle-Aquitaine (AANA) and the French cooperative InVivo have teamed up to create the label ‘SO France’ to promote French products from the Sud-Ouest (south-west) of France to Singaporean customers. Melons, tomatoes and asparagus are among the seasonal fresh produce being promoted as part of the campaign among many other products. The objective of ‘SO France’ is to raise awareness of the quality, authenticity and pleasure of consuming French products, so that Francophones in Singapore, and the world over, can learn the art of living like a French man/woman. As part of the campaign, a promotion concept store will open on the 21 March allowing Singaporeans to experience products from the south-west of France. The concept store will include a grocery store to purchase fruit and vegetables, a bistro restaurant and a wine bar.
Spain: One fruit, two fruit, three fruits, Canary fruit!
Bananas, pineapples, avocados, passion fruit and mangoes are different types of tropical fruit, but did you know where they are produced? Canary tropical fruits have recently been promoted in Madrid as part of education and raising awareness of the origin of tropical fruits, many of which are consuming daily by Spanish and European citizens alike. Canary tropical fruits, including papayas, were brought to markets and hospitality establishments in Madrid, such as the Prosperidad market, and cooking workshops were set up for adults to learn how to prepare and cook the large variety of Canary tropical fruit. The Councillor of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Narvay Quintero explained that due to the “orography and climate of the archipelago, Canary tropical and subtropical fruits are unique”. The activities were part of the European Commission funded “Grow Together” project that will culminate in the opening of a distribution hub for Canary Island agricultural products, including fruit and vegetables, in Madrid
The Netherlands: VitaMinis in the spotlight!
This January and February the supermarket chain Lidl has had everyone going crazy for fruit and vegetables! In collaboration with the National Vegetable and Fruit Action Plan (NAGF), Lidl has put the spotlight on VitaMinis, a range of plush toys representing different fruit and vegetables from Bram Broccoli to Annie Aardbei. Lidl customers can collect the different fruit and vegetable toys by getting stamps on their savings card. The aim of the VitaMinis two month campaign is to highlight the importance of healthy nutrition in daily diets and lifestyles. Along with the VitaMinis, children can also download the VitaMini app, where customers can learn more about fruit and vegetables in a playful way. Once the app has been downloaded each VitaMini has a card attached to it with a scan code, where children can access information and games about the VitaMini on the app. The app additionally provides an array of interesting facts and delicious recipes to try at home.