Prince de Bretagne

French vegetable marketer Prince de Bretagne has made huge strides since its inception back in 1970, enlarging its offer from just three items (cauliflower, artichokes and potatoes) to around 25 different vegetables.

The company has had to remain innovative in order to adapt to its customers' changing needs, introducing new packaging formats, including microwaveable trays and individual sachets, and ensuring that its marketing efforts continue to evolve.

Prince de Bretagne promotes the availability of its different vegetables through daily updates to retailers, featuring harvest forecasts, information on new products and new packaging, and peaks in production.

This year, for example, Prince de Bretagne's Roscoff onions should benefit from a longer season, the marketer recently announced, with a portion of the harvest being kept in cold storage.

'So, while the month of February usually marks the end of the season, this year there are a few more weeks to enjoy this exceptional onion, which should be available until Easter,' a statement read.

Prince de Bretagne equally communicates direct to the public, providing various tools whose aim is to boost consumption. Its website offers recipes, cooking tips and information on produce, with its Facebook and Youtube pages doing likewise.

The company's long-term sailing sponsorship is also an integral part of its brand promotion. 'There is no doubt that these actions boost vegetable sales, notably during the major races,' it said. 'To take maximum advantage of this dynamic, it is important to promote the brand's vegetables and to distribute recipe sheets during the key moments of the race season.'

European Vegetable Strategies 2015 takes place in Brussels on 6-7 May 2015. Pleaseclick here for more information and to register.