HumberVHB push for British cress

UK fresh cress and herbs grower HumberVHB has embarked on its first ever PR campaign to push home-grown cress into the spotlight.

The media promotions have been designed to interest consumers about the company’s British Salad Cress and Mustard & Cress varieties.

The programme will run throughout the summer, featuring recipes and interesting facts, including input from a nutritionist to highlight the health benefits of cress.

HumberVHB supplies the majority of UK supermarkets as well as wholesale fruit and vegetable markets and food processors.

The company grows cress and seedling products at its West End Nursery in West Sussex, producing some 16 million punnets of cress, as well as 350,000 boxes of catering cress.

James Seymour, product manager at HumberVHB said cress is a declining market despite having an excellent nationwide distribution in place.

He added: “The aim of the summer campaign is to inspire and motivate British consumers, thus increasing awareness and overall sales. We believe that the British consumer needs a gentle push to remind them of how good cress is for them and what a tasty but simple addition it makes to a huge variety of dishes.”

The cress campaign will be undertaken by Richmond Towers Communications - a PR agency with considerable experience in the fresh produce arena.