Italian campaign promotes cherries on-the-go

Ortofrutta Italia has launched a new campaign to promote cherries in Italy, aiming to enhance the fruit and vegetable sector and promote dialogue between all the players in the chain, from producers to large-scale distribution. The organisation's mission is to facilitate an effective exchange of information between producers, packers and distributors, while also trying to involve the fruit and vegetable processing sector.

The cherry communication project started on 15 June and will run until the end of the month. The main objective of the campaign is to make insiders, but above all the consumer, understand the value of the fruit and vegetable chain, in terms of product quality and seasonality.

Considering the impact of climate change on the production of fruit and vegetables, the consumption of fruit and vegetables in Italy is strongly influenced by seasonality and the climatic context, which helps to mediate the organoleptic and nutraceutical characteristics of the products.

The choice of the cherry is dictated by the fruit's peak season, which is also supported by its high quality. The campaign focuses on communicating the nutraceutical characteristics, the health properties and the versatility of cherries as a snack, but it also concentrates on a strong consumer push through targeted actions that increase the purchase engagement of cherries as a seasonal product.

According to Massimiliano Del Core, president of Ortofrutta Italia, the cherry campaign was launched to try to revive the product after a difficult start to the season due to rain and humidity, which caused a significant loss of the harvest (close to 80%).

Nevertheless, efforts are made to enhance the quality of the cherries still available. However, the summer heat poses a new challenge, as it can lead to over-ripening of the cherries, further reducing the duration of the campaign compared to previous years.

Decisions on promotion are made according to the standards of the product committees, which assess whether it is appropriate to promote a particular product and define the message to be conveyed, also considering market conditions.

Over the years, in fact, Ortofrutta Italia has tried to involve both consumers and large-scale organised distribution (GDO), collaborating with the latter to promote the consumption and information of fruit and vegetable products in the country. The collaboration with the large-scale retail trade provides a 360 degree view of the product and its impact on the market.

The project is financed by contributions from the associations that make up the organisation, both on the production side (e.g. Coldiretti, Confagricoltura and Copagri) and on the large-scale retail sector side (e.g. Ancc Coop and ANCD) and aims to enhance the value of fruit and vegetables made in Italy and to promote the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption for consumers' health. Through popularisation initiatives, tastings and tests, it seeks to raise awareness of the role that nature, climate and other factors play in determining the properties of seasonal fruits.

Ortofrutta Italia plans to evaluate the feedback from partners and monitor the effects of the campaign. Massimiliano Del Core emphasises, however, that in order to improve the communication action Ortofrutta Italia is going to structure some ancillary tools to the promotion, for example using a QR code that allows the consumer to interact and get to know the product better, learning notions and detailed information about organoleptic and nutraceutical properties, and at the same time providing feedback on product consumption. The aim is to increase direct interaction with consumers and monitor the effectiveness of campaigns in the medium to long term.

Finally, Ortofrutta Italia has mobilised to set up a new product committee that will deal with the fourth range. The committee was set up three months ago in order to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables in this range and to find synergies between all sectors of the supply chain, working on price recovery and increasing competitiveness.

Ortofrutta Italia is therefore committed to actively promoting the fruit and vegetable sector in Italy, working closely with all players in the supply chain to enhance product quality and raise consumer awareness of the benefits of eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

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