Equifruit pokes fun at wellness culture in consumer campaign

Canadian banana supplier Equifruit has stepped up its campaign to highlight to consumers the low cost of upgrading to Fairtrade fruit.

At the recent Global Produce & Floral Show (GPFS) in Anaheim, California, the company showcased its wellness campaign, dubbed “Pay Farmers Fairly, Feel Good”.

At the heart of the campaign’s message is the calculation that Americans eat an average of 27lbs of bananas every year, and the cost at the supermarket till of switching from a non-Fairtrade to a Fairtrade banana is 20 cents.

That works out to only around $5 extra over an entire year for a shopper.

Equifruit’s campaign pokes fun at wellness culture, highlighting that if people are willing to spend vast sums on protein powders and supplements, they could also upgrade to Fairtrade bananas for just $5 a year and feel good about knowing farmers are being better paid as a result.

“Inflation is going up and everyone is panicking about the price of coffee, gas and so on, but bananas have stayed at the same price for decades,” Equifruit’s communications and PR specialist Georgia Crump told Fruitnet at GPFS. “What we’re saying is that even if you switch to a premium Fairtrade banana, where the supply chain is clean and transparent and farmers are being paid fairly, it’ll still be the cheapest fruit.”

The US consumer and trade-facing campaign is also intended to make retailers stop and think about getting behind Fairtrade bananas in a country where Fairtrade represents only one per cent of the market.

Equifruit is pushing its message to consumers on social media, appealing to Gen Z, millennial and other conscious consumers who are interested in where their food comes from. It has also been highly active during Fairtrade Month in October, running a series of collaborations and giveaways, as well as dropping a number of “truth bombs” about banana production. 

In-store displays with retail partners have also centred around educating the public about Fairtrade and banana production.

The relatively young company is continuing to make strides in its home market. Equifruit’s organic Fairtrade bananas are now sold in two-thirds of Costco Wholesale outlets and two-thirds of Walmart stores in Canada, as well as in Costco stores in New York State in the US.