Le Crunch

French apple association Le Crunch has launched a marketing and promotions campaign that is focused on the major retail chains in the UK. The aim is to increase the visibility and sales of Le Crunch apples in the country.

On-pack promotions and other activities began at the start of September and will run throughout the season in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Co-op and Waitrose, according to a press release.

Le Crunch includes varieties such as Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Gala, Granny Smith and Red Delicious. This year’s harvest is up by 5 per cent compared with 2008, with an expected harvest of 1.6m tonnes.

Daniel Corbel, co-president of French interprofessional organisation Interfel’s external market commission, commented: “Not only is there an increased harvest this year but yet again the quality is also really high, so it’s good news all round for Le Crunch. It’s a challenging market at the moment, but we are confident that both the quality and quantity of our apples will meet the high expectations of the UK buyers. We are happy to be able to support this with a range of in-store promotional mechanics that will put Le Crunch at the front of British consumers’ minds and, we hope, into their shopping baskets.”