The South African fruit industry has officially launched a major campaign to support sales of stonefruit (plums, peaches and nectarines), topfruit (apples and pears), grapes and grapefruit in the UK.
The cross-category initiative, which is unprecedented in South Africa's post-deregulation era, is a four-way venture between the three organisations which represent the country's deciduous fruit, grapes and grapefruit, and the South African government.
Officially unveiled at a gala reception held last night in London's Dorchester Hotel, the campaign aims to build on the success of a pilot project to promote South African plums in the first three months of last year, which, according to its organisers, saw the fruit become the fastest-growing fresh produce category and the only stonefruit product to achieve value growth.
In the 12 weeks to 22 March 2009, the campaign saw the plum category grow by almost 50 per cent in volume terms, according to TNS data.
As Fruitnet.com reported last summer, the campaign is set to develop the 'Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit' creative concept used during the pilot, with six pictures of South African fruit featured against striking images of the country.
The visuals have been designed to highlight the country as a source of delicious, top-quality fresh fruit, while also promoting it as a tourist destination by incorporating the South African government's 'South Africa Alive with Possibility' logo.
In-store promotional activities have been planned for the coming months, including tastings, posters, radio, point-of-sale advertising and competitions to win a holiday to South Africa and a VIP trip to a semi-final and the final of the FIFA 2010 World Cup, due to take place in the country this coming June and July.
These activities will be supported by advertising in the trade and consumer press and online media, as well as public relations work supported by television celebrity Jasmine Harman and chef Sophie Michell, radio and internet features, editorial competitions and sampling to the public at key events during the year.
A new website supporting the campaign will offer information, recipes and media resources.
Having already begun in November 2009 with South African grapes, promotions are set to continue for stonefruit, topfruit and grapefruit throughout this year, focusing on peak seasons for each of the fruits in British retail stores.
Stefan Conradie, product manager for the South African stonefruit and topfruit industry, said: 'We are very pleased to be moving into the second phase of this exciting initiative to raise the profile of South African fresh produce and of South Africa as a tourist destination.'
He added: 'We are delighted to link with the grape and citrus industries on this campaign and also to have the support of the SA Government once again.
'The plum campaign achieved excellent growth for the category and has been used as a model to develop activity for further South African fruits,' he continued. 'This is a major opportunity and we are looking forward to attaining similar success for the South African fruits we have added to the new campaign.'
Elaine Alexander, executive director for the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI), said: 'We are proud to be joining the Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit campaign and look forward to communicating to British shoppers the great taste and diversity of South African grapes.
'Promoting South African grapes alongside stonefruit, topfruit and grapefruit from the country gives South Africa a consistent promotional message for almost 12 months of the year, which is great news for our growers and their retailer customers in the UK.'
Justin Chadwick, CEO of the South African Citrus Growers Association, added: 'We are very excited to be joining South Africa's largest promotional campaign since deregulation, supporting South African grapefruit at the time of peak availability from the country.
'We are looking forward to building on the momentum of last year's camapign on South African plums and taking advantage of the additional focus on South Africa during the 2010 World Cup and the other fruits promoting as part of this same initiative.'
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