Fruit and vegetables retailers are the bridge between the consumer and supermarkets. They trade products worldwide or locally and supply the supermarket chains.

I carried a survey in April 2016 and 60% of 123 survey participants refill their fridge with fruit and vegetables every week while 33% repack every three days.

Numbers increased when 88% of enquiries never heard of carambolas, 85% about pitayas and 28% never heard of rambutan. No information shows 72% have no idea how to select them at the supermarket. This means their marketing should be twice as effective.

Why would an established business add new products to its set and develop a new marketing plan? To promote and grow even more.

Exotic fruits and vegetables make long journeys from everywhere in the world. Brasil, New Zealand, Thailand, you name it. They travel long to Europe and growers pick them unripe. Their natural sugar levels are low.

Consumers need information with colours and catchy phrases.

In 2011, Nature’s Pride, a Dutch fresh produce retail company came up with a new strategy. Eat Me ® was the name.

Mangoes, papayas, and avocados, packed “in “nice outer cartoons” and on product stickers with recipes. Cool! The consumer recognised them in the blink of an eye.

What are ready-to-eat products? Five years ago, several supermarket chains in Europe started selling ripe fruits in a different way. Nature’s Pride created a new brand name and a logo and started selling a bit more than ripe fruit.

The exceptional sales results of mangoes and avocados proved that an extension to other fresh produce would work.

People’s positive response to these products made them expand the campaign to fresh limes and chilli peppers. Those products would be available ripe and tasty to the public. All this with a new brand name!

Information retrieved from:

· www.fruitnet.com/eurofruit/article/9626/natures-pride-officially-unveils-eat-me

Survey and report by Ana Lourenço

· Survey at bit.ly/1QmxLlA

· Graphic report at bit.ly/1U6Ey9X