Pink Lady Europe celebrated the 20th anniversary of the apple brand in quite some style at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. An evening of Pink Lady apple-based dishes, drinks and music culminated in president Didier Crabos jumping out of a giant cake, to the great surprise of onlookers – Miss Pink Lady had seemed like a much safer bet.
Incredibly after 20 years, the excitement surrounding the apple brand seems just as feverish as it was, and perhaps that’s down to its unmitigated success.
The apple sector is currently experiencing its most challenging period in recent history, thanks to a combination of record production in Europe and the continuing Russian embargo, which has predictably exerted a downward pressure on prices.
Nevertheless, Pink Lady apples have continued to thrive during this difficult time. “Pink Lady Europe has been faced with its biggest challenge yet,” says Thierry Mellenotte, “with 165,000 tonnes of Pink Lady in Europe and so many negatives affecting the business. But we have overcome them. Sales for the first three months of this season increased by 18 per cent. This is down to our continued work on quality, research, communication and promotion. This has given retailers real confidence in Pink Lady.”
Since production of Pink Lady is still rising, the company cannot afford to rest on its laurels, but must continue to seek out new consumers. “Every year, we will have around 7 per cent more production,” says Mellenotte, “so we cannot remain static. But we have increasing numbers of extremely loyal consumers. Research has shown how many consumers prefer a good sweet-sour balance and a crunchy apple, but not too crunchy – we meet these demands. So many of our consumers actually buy exclusively Pink Lady.”
Mellenotte admits that this is a big responsibility to fulfil. “We can’t afford to disappoint,” he says. “We have to continue to meet those high expectations. The best way to do that is to guarantee a high level of quality every time.”
In fact, Pink Lady intends to increase the loyalty of its consumers even further in the future. “We plan to do this by helping consumers to get to know Pink Lady even better,” says Mellenotte. “We want consumers to know all about our philosophy and values, including our social and environmental stance, as well as the people that make Pink Lady what it is today.”
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