Supermarket shoppers in France are going to be seeing a great deal of more this autumn of a little African boy called Kirikou whose cartoon adventures have already made him a big hit with many French children.

Kirikou is fronting a new campaign that has been developed by Compagnie Fruitière to market a new pre-packed banana that is hitting shelves in France later this month and expected to become a permanent feature in the fresh fruit and vegetable departments of major supermarket chains across the country by the end of the year.

“This is not only part of our strategy to segment the banana market in this country but also an opportunity for our company to identify itself with a character that shares our values, namely our concern for the environment, for people and for social development,” explains Aurélien Fidon, who heads up corporate communications at Compagnie Fruitière.

The €300m fresh produce company is one of France’s leading banana distributors, marketing among a range of fresh fruits and vegetables some 330,000 tonnes of bananas annually in Europe as a whole.

Bananas for the Kirikou campaign are produced on Compagnie Fruitière’s own farms in Cameroon. Five medium-sized bananas measuring no less than 18cm each are pre-packed at source and loaded onto the company’s own vessels for the 12-day sea voyage to Europe.

Compagnie Fruitière says its new promotion has aroused strong interest among France’s leading supermarket chains, where the bananas are expected to retail at a price point of some €1.50 per bag.

“Every bag is going to contain a free gift for children to collect,” explained Mr Fidon. “But our new Kirikou campaign isn’t simply a question of trying to grow banana consumption among children alone. We want the family as a whole to eat more bananas, so we’re marketing a medium-sized piece of fruit that adults will want to eat as well.”
Compagnie Fruitière is linking up with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, to channel support to a development project in Senegal.

“It means shoppers will be able to see that their purchases can make a real difference to people’s lives in Africa,” explained Mr Fidon. Bananas are the first product of several that will feature in its campaigns with UNICEF, he said.

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