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Apple brands on the market
Club varieties have multiplied in recent years. There are many now competing for a
share of the market. But positioning and promotion questions persist.
Lengthening the optimum promotion
phase of Pink Lady ®
Pink Lady ® is well represented in a
very large majority of European retail
outlets. Some British retailers such as
Marks & Spencer, and others such as
Cactus in Luxembourg, show Pink Lady
in the lead with 20% to 30% of the apple
display.
This year the members of the association
have again announced an increase
in Pink Lady ® volumes, by around 3%
to 5%, forecasting 110,000 tonnes of
apples for the fresh market, of which
92,000 tonnes will be Pink Lady ® and
18,000 tonnes Cripps Pink and Flavor
Rose. The surface area of orchards in
production is growing by around 4% to
5% a year.
«The context is evolving with the increasing
arrival of new varieties. That
said, we have the advantages of quality,
of the product and of our ability to
mobilise marketing resources to attract
new consumers. If the French market
was dragging its feet a bit in 2007/08,
Pink Lady ® made strong progress in
other destinations (Germany, the UK,
the Netherlands, Spain, Scandinavia,
etc.) thanks to the resources we put
into marketing and thanks to a remarkable
crop», explained Didier Crabos,
president of the Pink Lady ® Europe Association.
With Pink Lady ® , the expression
«so much more than an apple»
acquires its full meaning, but it must
not be allowed to become a victim of
its own success. These reflections
and measures come with the idea of
prolonging the optimum promotion
phase.
Sundowner ® advancing on the
European markets
With a quality product and a springtime
slot providing an alternative to
imported apples, Sundowner ® has the
necessary qualities to become part of
the French apple supply sequence.
This year, Sundowner ® will be embarking
on a new stage in its marketing
development. «We are going to
have a potential marketable crop of
4200 tonnes this season and will try
to commit a larger promotion budget
for Europe», explained Thierry Mellenotte,
manager of Pink Lady ® Europe
and Sundowner ® Europe. Sundowner ®
ranked first in a blind tasting carried
out by a major multiple. Promotion of
a consumer guarantee is underway.
Didier Crabos
With 32% higher volumes sold in
2007, Sundowner ® continues to make
progress on its main markets, namely
Germany, France, Britain, Portugal, Ireland
and Denmark.
Jazz marketing supervised
by Enzafruit
Ripening at the same time as Braeburn,
the Jazz ® Scifresh cv is marketed
under the JazzTM brand. This «new»
apple has remarkable eating quality
(aroma, crunchiness, balanced
flavour) and very good firmness. It is
now embarking on the conquest of
European markets: Germany, Benelux,
the United Kingdom and France. «It
has always been one of the top-ranking
varieties in numerous consumer
tests and its suitability for storage is
also an undeniable advantage», noted
Marc Leprince, Enzafruit’s European
Manager in charge of coordinating the
development of Jazz in Europe.
All the Jazz marketing is controlled
and supervised by Enza or an affiliate.
Exports to Europe (except France) are
handled by the Enza Continent sales
office, based in Belgium.
In France they rely on a sales network
reached through the commercial pro-
toP Fruit
ducer organisations. The prices are
agreed with the different operators.
On the French market, French-grown
Jazz is available from mid-October to
the end of March and from mid-May to
the end of August the fruit is imported
from New Zealand.
Marketing agreements for
Juliet ® on every continent
The contract signed with Cardell for
exclusive marketing of Juliet ® , «the organic
apple», has opened up the markets
of Europe (from Ireland to Russia),
North Africa, the Middle East (Dubai,
Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates),
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand,
and of Quebec and Ontario in Canada.
«We are also making progress in South
Africa with the Dutoit group. Cardell
has come to a commercial agreement
with this South African company to
plant 100 ha of Juliet ® with Cardell marketing
the crop. We are currently in the
process of multiplying the crops in New
Zealand, where discussions are under
way with a big group to develop the variety
everywhere else in the world. It is
important to have two marketers with
well-defined territories», explained
Benoît Escande.
EUROFRESH
DISTRIBUTION
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NOVEMBER
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Honeycrunch ® and Ariane
well-placed
10% of Honeycrunch ® is grown in northern
Germany and 90% in France.»This
is a very early apple, marketed from
September to mid-April, which are seven
big months of the season. Although
the harvest has been a little later this
year, by about ten days, Honeycrunch ®
has consolidated its coexistence with
other club varieties on the shelves»,
highlighted Olivier Tenaud, the Pomanjou
International manager.
As for Ariane, «the apple with recognized
environmental qualities» from
the Les Naturianes range, two-thirds
of its sales are on the French market,
laragely through volume retailers but
also through wholesalers, etc. The rest
of the crop is sold in Britain and Spain,
destinations where promotion activities
for Ariane will be carried out this year.
In order to liven up sales, the range of
packaging is being expanded, particularly
with new 1 kg and 1.5 kg bags and
a 6-apple tray. The new presentations
aimed at reinforcing Ariane listing also
include 50 kg bins. The development
coordinators say that Ariane is now
second only to Pink Lady ® among the
new apple varieties on the shelves.