Fresh Times – Edition 6, 2018
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Editor’s Note: Have a fruity Christmas!
This year has been and gone and we’re already up to our last edition of the Fresh Times for 2018. Before you begin to think about your New Year’s resolutions, don’t forget that the festive season is in full swing and take a moment to enjoy the last of 2018. This holiday season we’ve seen a proliferation of promotion campaigns in different shapes and sizes capitalising on people’s focus on food and celebrations at this time of year. From stamps to social media campaigns there really is something for everyone to help encourage healthy eating and a balanced diet at a time when most like to indulge a little. Don’t forget that its apple and pear season as well so they’ll be at their best for all sorts of cheery festive dishes. Keep the fruit and vegetables handy this festive season, but not too close to the Christmas tree, and we’ll see you in 2019 for the next edition of the Fresh Times! Happy holidays!
The Netherlands: Stamps for your Xmas cards
One of the first jobs on anyone’s to do list for the Christmas period is to send off the Christmas cards to distant family members and long lost friends. If you live in the Netherlands, this year PostNL has made new postage stamps available on a ‘My vegetable garden’ stamp sheet, consisting of six stamps all depicting different vegetables in the main stages of cultivation: sowing, growing and harvesting. The vegetables include an oak leaf lettuce (leaf vegetable), aubergine (fruit vegetable), fennel (stem crop), radish (root vegetable), sweet potato (root vegetable) and turnip greens (leaf vegetable). The vegetables are photographed from different viewpoints to demonstrate the naturalness and freshness of the products. Additionally, around the rim of each stamp is a mini calendar describing the months which are best suited for sowing and harvesting for each vegetable, both in greenhouses and in the garden. The stamps have been available since 19 October and can be purchased online and in stores.
Spain: Pomegranates for Christmas
What’s on your wish list for Father Christmas this year? Is it Mollar pomegranates by any chance? This Christmas the regional government of Valencia launched a new campaign called ‘El Nadal és valencià’ (A Valencian Christmas). As part of the campaign they gifted 100 free boxes of Mollar pomegranates from Elche to destinations all over Europe in celebration of the region. For the initiative 50 orders were initially planned, however they were all made in less than four hours, therefore the decision was made to add another 50 orders to make a Christmas total of 100. The boxes of pomegranates will reach 20 different countries, including Germany, France, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Malta and Iceland among others. More than 40 of the boxes have been ordered by parents for their children, followed by boxes ordered for siblings (23), friends (15) and other family members. The boxes were extremely popular as for many Europeans pomegranates are a typical fruit consumed at Christmas time.
Poland: 100 apples in 100 days
Do you eat one piece of fruit per day as part of your 5-a-day? Well, have you ever eaten a piece every day for 100 days? The Association of Policy Fruit Growers is asking Polish people just that – to eat 100 apples in 100 days. That’s an apple a day for over 3 months! The initiative is to unite Poles to mark of the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining Independence. Consequently the initiative has been named ‘Feel the Taste – Feel the Pride’. In Poland the apple is seen as a symbolic fruit which is why it was chosen for the anniversary. The apple demonstrates the hard work and passion of people across Poland. Polish apples in particular have a unique sweet and sour taste that arises from Poland’s warm sunny days and cold nights. The apples, and specifically Polish apples, were distributed on the 9 November in Warsaw and Lublin to start the 100 days of uniting Poles through apple consumption.
Italy: Opera-aaaa!
Have you ever heard of an Opera pear? If not, it’s not long until you will! The Opera Consortium, the Italian fruit growers’ organisation specialising in pears has launched a multi-media communication plan just for the Opera pear. 60 million Italians will be amazed and engaged with information about the beauty and characteristics of the Opera pear. To catch the attention of consumers as part of the campaign more than 2,500 television and radio advertisements will be aired during the main programmes o Rai, Publitalia and La7 of which 66% will take place during prime time and drive time. Commercials will feature often little known information about the many varieties of the Opera pear, their Italianness, their nutritional qualities and their many uses in delicious and healthy recipes. This includes ‘Mini’ and ‘Takeaway’ Opera pears suitable for the modern lifestyle. A new website will host a plethora of information on the Opera pear, which people will be directed to via social media.
U.K: Good apples
Are you a good apple? Pink Lady® celebrated all those ‘good apples’ out there who have done good deeds and been good all round this year by giving them the chance to win a Pink Lady® experience for two in the French town of Avignon where they are grown to experience the Pink Lady® orchards for themselves. The competition enabled Pink Lady® fans to nominate someone who they considered a ‘good apple’ on the brand’s website to be in the running to visit the orchards. The winners of the trip also were offered the opportunity to pick their own ‘good apples’ in the Pink Lady® apple growing region. Over 92,000 tons of Pink Lady® apples are harvested in Europe each year, where the region of Provence is a significant producer with over 1400 hectares of orchards. Ten runners-up from the competition also received bespoke Pink Lady® goody bags. This is the third experience the brand has offered, having also launched competitions to go to Australia and Venice.
The Netherlands: BFF for life
Who’s your BFF (best friend forever)? Is it your school friend, sister or wait, the Sweet Sensation pear? To promote the Sweet Sensation pear and bring them into the limelight, The Greenery has developed a large-scale multimedia campaign for the Dutch market entitled ‘BBF – Best Fruit Friend’, where they explain how the Sweet Sensation can become your ‘Best Fruit Friend’ in whatever circumstance you find yourself. The campaign is targeted at women aged between 20 and 35 who would like to take a healthy snack with them wherever they might go – on the go, at work, before or after exercise etc. While the pear is traditionally used in the Netherlands in a fruit dish or in the fruit bowl at home, the campaign demonstrates the versatility of the Sweet Sensation in circumstances outside the home and how it can be your ideal companion or Best Fruit Friend. The Sweet Sensation pear is available from October to early June and is sold in The Netherlands by The Greenery.
Italy: Apple recipes galore
Every apple season we make the same apple recipes, but if you need a little apple-spiration in your life look no further. This month Ambrosia has launched a whole recipe book dedicated to the Ambrosia apple. To raise awareness of the great versatility of the Ambrosia apple, Ambrosia compiled many different types of recipes, including risottos, pies, biscuits, cold summer dishes and smoothies to inspire you. The recipe book was created in collaboration with food bloggers to ensure that consumers would engage with the recipe book and for further dissemination on the food bloggers’ social media channels. The recipes highlight the nutritional qualities of the Ambrosia apple, in particular that it is rich in polyphenols, flavonoids and fibres, all essential elements for a rich and balanced diet. The recipe book will be given out at points of sale to consumers to support the social media campaign. Consumers will be encouraged to engage with the food bloggers and post their recipe book meals on social media.
U.K: Colours of sustainability
Blue and yellow – the iconic colours of Chiquita since 1963. So why the new colours of the rainbow branding? This month Chiquita announced a special December collaboration with Roomero Britto, the world famous pop artist. Britto has designed a new Chiquita patch under the concept of ‘Behind the Blue Stamp’. This new concept serves to underline Chiquita’s commitment to sustainability, especially Chiquita’s desire to have positive and measurable impact by making sure that sustainability is a feature in all its activities. Britto is known for his vibrant designs, which are influenced from cubism and pop and has supported many causes including the 1999 commemorative stamp for the United Nations. Britto’s rainbow sustainability patch will be available on all Chiquita bananas during the Christmas season this year to remind everyone that despite the season sustainability is still at the heart of business. To further highlight the collaboration Chiquita’s iconic London bus will be emblazoned with the new patch to show passers-by the colourful and new sustainable look.
U.S: Healthy holiday eating
You’re children are home on Christmas holidays and you’ve already exhausted all your board games and Christmas films – what to entertain them with next? Fear not, Del Monte Fresh Produce has released its first ever holiday game. What’s more the game won’t just entertain your children for potentially hours while you handle the festive preparations, but it also might convince them to eat all their greens at Christmas dinner! Sounds like the perfect solution to me! Available on the Del Monte Fresh website, the holiday game is designed to be a fun-filled way to encourage healthy eating incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables into your diet instead of traditional holiday sweets. The game is being promoted on promotional tags on Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet pineapples and on stickers on Del Monte® branded fresh-cut products to encourage consumers to play. In addition the game is also being promoted through Del Monte Fresh’s social media channels for all children awaiting Christmas to play.
Poland: Changing attitudes
How do you get people to change their attitudes towards consuming more fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet, especially in the Christmas season? Launch a wide-sweeping social media campaign of course! The Polish National Association of Juice Manufacturers in collaboration with media partners has launched the implementation of actions supporting consumers in changing their attitudes to diet as part of the ‘VIII portions of vegetables, fruit or juice’ campaign. The actions aim at making real changes in consumer attitudes by targeting students as well as medical professionals who normally provide dietary recommendations. As part of the implementation, media relations and influencer marketing will be carried out along with a radio campaign to spread the message of healthy eating and how to easily and quickly incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet to cater for busy modern lifestyles. Opinion leaders, specialists and nutrition experts, including dietitians, doctors and scientists will also take part in the campaign activities, which runs until September 2019.
Chile: Enjoy the red moment
For those from the Southern Hemisphere cherries are synonymous with Christmas with cherries just beginning to arrive on supermarket shelves for the start of the party season. Those in the Northern Hemisphere will also be able to experience this festive fruit as part of their celebrations this year. The Chile Cherry Committee of ASOEX together with proChile have launched a new campaign oriented towards the Chinese market in collaboration with Chinese importers, distributors and retailers. The campaign, called ‘Enjoy the Red Moment’, aims to promote Chilean cherries to Chinese consumers inviting them to enjoy cherries during this time of year. The campaign will be held in 65 cities for 39 days taking place before, during and after the Chinese New Year, which in 2019 will be celebrated across China on 5 February. The campaign will feature presence at points of sale, a social media campaign and e-commerce campaign as well as advertising and stands at trade shows, events and wholesale markets.