Nutrano’s Afternoon Delite campaign successfully re-engaged consumers with targeted marketing
Nutrano Produce Group has been marketing Delite seedless mandarins on behalf of the Delite Growers Association since they first hit Australian shelves in 2012. Heading into the 2025 season, a new campaign was developed to address a key category challenge, declining engagement in mandarins, particularly among young adults (aged 18–35) and families with teens.
National marketing manager, Cynthia Tago says shopper research showed that three in four Australians snack daily, with fruit a preferred afternoon option. However, purchase consideration for mandarins had softened despite their natural suitability as a convenient, healthy snack.
This drift was the genesis of the Afternoon Delite campaign, a finalist for the 2026 Marketer of the Year Award (MOYA). The campaign set out to reverse the trend by repositioning Delite mandarins as the go-to afternoon snack for Woolworths consumers.
“The objective was to reignite consideration during a key consumption moment and re-engage the shopper segments experiencing the greatest decline,” Tago explains.
“The campaign was designed to ‘own’ the afternoon snacking occasion – driving renewed relevance, converting lapsed buyers back into the category, and delivering measurable uplift for both brand and retailer during the peak selling window.”
To connect with the target audience Nutrano devised a social-first approach to reach shoppers where and when they consume content with relevant snack inspiration.
“We used an integrated mix of digital, retail and experiential activity, selected to efficiently reach our priority shopper segments in channels where they are actively looking for snack ideas and make purchase decisions,” says Tago.
“With young adults heavily influenced by social media and influencer recommendations, a social-first approach was essential which we reinforced through Woolworths media to convert intent at the point of purchase.”
Nutrano created new TikTok and YouTube channels and refreshed the Delite website to meet the target audience through the most effective channels and strengthen brand storytelling. The campaign then harnessed social media and creator/influencer partnerships to build relevance, spark “snack-ability”, and deliver native, shareable content.
To drive home the message, the campaign used precision paid digital media to amplify and efficiently reach young adults at key media usage times and mid-afternoon snacking windows.
Retail engagement was also key to securing conversion. Woolworths partnership media via catalogue, Fresh Market Update TV and radio scaled reach and engaged shoppers at point of purchase.
Nutrano conducted experiential sampling at Woolworths head office – featuring chocolate-coated Delite mandarins and mandarin spiced chai – to support advocacy and create talkable moments. Combined, these efforts engaged a wider audience and improved results at the checkout.
“The campaign’s social-first activity reached 1.5mn new users and generated more than 6mn impressions, propelled by viral snack-hack content,” shares Tago.
“This translated into double-digit growth across both loose Delite and prepacks as well as improved shopper loyalty with 16 per cent more shopping trips versus the same period the previous year.
“Afternoon Delite rebuilt relevance and demand by creating new snack moments that shifted behaviour and delivered sustained commercial growth for both Nutrano and Woolworths. It turned previously declining segments into growth drivers, strengthened Woolworths’ mandarin category performance, and supported continued market-share leadership during Delite’s activation window.”
Heading into this season, Nutrano intends to harness the momentum built by last year’s campaign to embed the afternoon-snack occasion as Delite’s core platform and scale what worked in its social-first strategy.
“We’ll optimise into the best-performing social media formats, expand our creator partnership programme, and develop more recipes and snack-hack content to inspire more afternoon-snack moments, further cementing Delite as the snack of choice,” shares Tago.
“We also have exciting expansion plans for our Delite mandarin programme this season, and we’ll share more details in the coming months.
“Afternoon Delite shows what’s possible when shopper insight and occasion-based positioning are brought to life through social-first, creator-led marketing. The campaign rebuilt demand by creating new snacking moments, delivered measurable and sustained growth for Woolworths, growers, and the Delite brand, and reinforced that this approach is both viable and scalable for fresh produce.”
Nutrano Produce Group: Delite Seedless Mandarins – Afternoon Delite campaign, is one of the finalists for the 2026 Marketer of the Year Award. The campaign will be presented at the MOYA Showcase held at Hort Connections on Wednesday 3 June from 13:50–14:10 at the Blue Stream Trade Show Speaker Sessions.
