Fresh Times – Edition 5, 2019
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Editor’s Note: Seasonal pickings
In this October issue we take a look at promotion campaigns focused on seasonal fruits and vegetables. Specifically, this month we’re looking at innovative ways to encourage consumers to choose that extra portion of fruit or veg as the weather starts to get colder and ways in which the sector is coming together to share best practices and ideas. From car trips to trendy ties, the opportunities and ideas are endless! Take a read to find out more and stay tuned for the sixth and last edition of the Fresh Times for 2019, which will be released in December.
Belgium: An apple for the road
On the 21 October BelOrta celebrated International Apple Day by providing commuters in Belgium ‘an apple for the road’. Commuters travelling by train and car were treated with a delicious and healthy morning apple surprise to give them a vitamin boost to get them through the morning rush to school or work. BelOrta’s team distributed apples at the stations of Antwerp Central, Ghent Sint-Pieters and Ottignies and at 10 of the busiest traffic junctions in Belgium from 6-9am and for the evening rush as well for a pre-dinner snack from 4:30-7:30pm. Everyone was snacking on nutritious apples on International Apple Day!
France: International Asparagus Days
At the end of this month the International Asparagus Days were held at the Parc des Expositions of Angers in France. This third edition gathered 100 exhibitors and more than 2,000 visitors from 30 different countries. Like the previous two years the aim of International Asparagus Days is to gather the global asparagus industry together for dialogue and exchange on important issues for the sector. This year the focus was on biocontrol, the use of mico-organisms and robotics. Conferences and demonstrations were organised across the 29 and 30 October as part of the fair as well as field visits to productions sites near Angers and Bordeaux.
Italy: Beauty and the Beast
What shall Beauty eat today you ask? An Oranfrizer red orange or a Melinda apple? The Bestack Consortium brought Beauty and the Beast to fruit and vegetable shopping at Mercato delle Erbe in Bologna, Italy in September to highlight the choice of products on offer using their corrugated cardboard packaging. To the sound of music flash mobs revealed to Beauty in front of shoppers the secrets of the best fruit and vegetable products to use. This ‘Spettacoli alla Frutta’ (Fruit Show) is a new mode of B2C communication being tested in Italy that transforms well known stories to get consumers to engage with the category.
Netherlands: Eggplant gastronomy
Bloggers were recently invited to an eggplant focused event organised by Rijk Zwaan and A8 to learn about the versatility of the eggplant. This gastronomical event included an excursion to the eggplant greenhouses and a workshop dinner with a chef to learn about the different ways to incorporate eggplant into you meals – from cocktail to dessert! The participating bloggers were also asked to create an eggplant recipe at home using skills that they had learnt in the workshop and these were shared across their social media channels and on LoveMySalad reaching over 300,000 consumers. A recipe book is now available for purchase, which includes all these eggplant recipes.
Spain: The Cook Princess returns
The Cook Princess campaign is still ongoing in Spain. The project, initiated at the end of 2018, has recently provided 600 children with local pears in a cooking workshop to raise awareness of the importance of fruit consumption. The Cook Princess story tells the tale of a rebel princess who wants to be a cook and helps children to discover the virtues of pear consumption and products that respect nature. The campaign is run by the Regulatory Council of the Denomination of the Origin Pera de Lleida and the Catalan Council of Integrated Production, which aims to help children bring this healthy message to their homes and parents.
UK: Get set to eat fresh
Aldi’s Get set to eat fresh campaign has supported more than one million young people to eat healthily. The education programme offers free, curriculum linked resources that use Team GB athletes to inspire students aged 5-14 to cook and eat healthy fresh food. From cooking, nutrition and science to international foods and cultures, students learn all about healthy eating from films, lesson sheets and online content. Students can even choose a local Team GB athlete and learn how to plan and prepare a meal for them, teaching them how to eat healthily with plenty of fruit and vegetables as a young person and athlete.
Netherlands: Filefruit, car fruit
The latest Filefruit campaign run by the Dutch National Fruit and Vegetable Action Plan and the Dutch Fruit Growers Organization is reminding drivers to snack on fruit as a healthy option while driving. The aim of the campaign is to encourage eating fruit more often throughout the day to more easily reach the Dutch recommended daily intake of 200g. Driving is part of many people’s daily routine, whether it’s to get to work, pick up the children from school or go to the supermarket. Filefruit aims to make eating fruit part of this daily routine to make fruit consumption a daily habitual behaviour.
Italy: Trendy ties for broccoli
A healthy lifestyle preventing the onset of disease starts at healthy food served at the table. This is the main message of The Italian Garden project by Citrus which will run next month in November 2019. Broccolis in Italy will be wearing mini E.Marinella ties with the 500g fruit and vegetable daily intake reference on them in the fashion brands four iconic patterns to raise awareness of men’s health. The mini ties can be used as a key ring or bookmark and have been attached to broccolis to remind men of the importance of a healthy diet in an overall healthy lifestyle for disease prevention.
EU: Pink is the new yellow
For the third consecutive year, Chiquita is raising awareness of breast cancer by replacing the blue Chiquita sticker with the pink ribbon, the international symbol of the global breast cancer awareness campaign. This October 200 million pink stickers were distributed on Chiquita bananas to help raise awareness of breast cancer. As one of the most widely popular fruits, the banana is an excellent awareness raising medium for health campaigns. The campaign is close to Chiquita’s heart as the ambassador of the company, Miss Chiquita, is a woman. The campaign will raise funds for research into breast cancer causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
Global: Avocado recipes
As autumn approaches and sets in, the ‘back to school’ routine also begins again. The World Avocado Organization (WAO) is giving parents a helping hand this year by offering new ways to incorporate avocado into nutritious recipes for this back to school period to ensure that schoolchildren are achieving a healthy and balanced diet even on school days. The WAO has proposed four different recipes that also showcase Spanish gastronomy from the north to the south of the country. This includes Basque Country tuna buns with avocado, Valencian and Balearic cold rice with avocado, Andalusian gazpacho and a rich Canarian sauce.
New Zealand: Tomato animations
Did you know that tomatoes are grown in New Zealand? TomatoesNZ have created two fun and informative animations to help consumers learn about New Zealand tomatoes. The two animations featuring creative cartoon designs share facts about how New Zealand tomatoes are produced, including information about their nutrition content and health benefits. One of the videos also features facts about the New Zealand horticulture industry in general, tomatoes’ role in the industry and plant health and food safety requirements for tomatoes exported to New Zealand. TomatoesNZ’s are available on their website.