KIKU Fruchtwelt 2010

KIKU at Fruchtwelt 2010 (left to right): Werner Stuber, Zlatka Gutman Kobal, Vlado Korber, Susanne Früh, Katja Röser, Markus Litterst, Birgit Gutberlett, Jürgen Wieser and Jürgen Braun

Apple marketer KIKU says it enjoyed a positive reaction to its stand at this year's Fruchtwelt, the international trade fair for fruit, berries, hops and distillation held every year in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The event, which took place at the Messe Friedrichshafen near the shores of Lake Constance, attracted a total of 17,000 visitors from across Europe.

KIKU – which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year – offered those visiting its stand cocktails and fresh-cut apple slices, while also drawing attention to recent promotional campaigns.

These included tastings at point-of-sale, competitions and merchandising via the group's online shop.

Meanwhile, Kanzi apples also featured prominently at this year's Fruchtwelt, with more than 300 people attending a special Kanzi Europe People's Forum, held during the show.

Members of the Kanzi group, including Greenstar Kanzi Europe, BayWa, WOG, Veiling Haspengouw, Fruitmasters and Obst vom Bodensee, were on hand to discuss the development of Kanzi brand over the past five years and to identify goals and strategies for the coming years.

Promotional push

For both KIKU and Kanzi, promotions remain hugely important in terms of developing their standing both in the trade and among consumers.

Consumers of KIKU apples are currently being invited to win a 'Walk and Talk' with the famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner at the International Mountain Summit 2010, an annual festival sponsored by KIKU.

IMS 2010 is due to take place in Brixen, South Tyrol, this coming November Dolomites.

At Fruchtwelt, KIKU also convened a technical meeting of its KIKU-Pool Europe in order to discuss production techniques, with the aim of continuing to turn out high-quality apples for the European market.

Meanwhile, a total of 26 representatives from companies that make up the KIKU's global supply network were present in Berlin earlier this month for Fruit Logistica.

Together, KIKU's international members market a total of 1m tonnes of branded apples per year.

During their meeting in Berlin, which for the first time involved new members from South Africa, the group reportedly analysed and developed new strategies and ideas relating to communications and promotions, research and development and packaging.