Six suppliers and growers of asparagus are embarking on the third annual campaign to promote the British crop. Preparation is already underway for the 2005 season, which is set to see the biggest volumes of asparagus ever grown in the UK.
Marketers Mack Multiples, Bomfords, Barfoot’s of Botley and Exotic Farm Produce will again join forces with the two largest growers of asparagus in the UK; Kitchen Garden Produce and Tuddenham Hall, to fund a national public relations campaign.
The core aims of the campaign are to further increase consumer penetration and frequency of purchase of asparagus. The 2004 season achieved unprecedented penetration with all available product taken up by the grocery multiples, through which 80 per cent of the British crop is sold. TNS data recorded the highest ever total sales for May and June. In June alone, there was a 29 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of consumers buying asparagus.
The 2005 campaign will take seasonality as its theme. Chris Kitchen of Kitchen Garden Produce said: “We’re living in an age where consumers have lost sight of when crops are in season, which is a great shame because we do grow fabulous seasonal vegetables in Britain. The 2005 campaign will feature British asparagus alongside a range of foods which are in season in May and June giving consumers a real flavour of early summer and highlighting asparagus as a versatile ingredient, not just a side dish.”
Looking forward to next year’s British season, he added: “The last few years have seen a healthy increase in asparagus sales which is encouraging but also means that we have set ourselves tough targets to meet if we are to sustain this growth. We estimate that across Britain there is at least 25 per cent more asparagus in the ground to be harvested in 2005. The campaign we have in place to promote British asparagus is therefore crucial - we have to encourage consumers to buy our product and retailers to support it if we are to have another successful season.”
Work is already underway on next year’s campaign with support secured from celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc and Antony Worrall Thompson. Covering a range of broadcast and print media, the campaign will build on the enhanced awareness of British asparagus achieved during the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.
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