Fruitylife: the 2014 promotional and information campaign in point of sale fruit and vegetable departments will be going out with a bang

To provide consumers with direct information about the quality of fresh European products from a protected production chain that is monitored in each phase, over three years the project created information and promotional campaigns involving ad hoc stands set up in the fruit and vegetable departments of selected points of sale. In detail, the 828 activities that took place in the first year increased to 970 in the second year and 1,060 in the last year, which will end in January 2015. These activities were conducted in Italian (Coop Adriatica, In’S Mercato, Cedi Marche, Poli Supermercati, Fratelli Arena, Sait, Vega, LD Market, Realco)and French (Casinò Group) retail outlets, specialised organic supermarkets in France and Italian commercial restaurants (Cir Food and Camst). The stands were set up using materials showing the slogan “Fruit and vegetables, your daily dose of health”; posters with attractive graphics and fun, unusual creativity, designed to promote the use of fruit and vegetables in consumers' every day diets, were accompanied by circular hanging displays to help identify seasonal fruit and vegetables and information brochures on the main themes of the project, which are: traceability, the system of controls, food safety, eco-compatible production methods and seasonality. These activities were organised thanks to the participation of five Alimos partner companies that are directly involved in the program: Alegra, Apofruit Italia, Conor, Naturitalia and Orogel Fresco. According to the participating companies, the promotion and information initiatives helped raise consumers' level of interest and awareness of fruit and vegetables, leading them to buy more produce and with greater awareness, as shown by sales results. “Good communications and wholesome products are essential for relaunching fruit and vegetable sales; this is why the Fruitylife project has achieved its goals” commented Tiberio Pompili, a sales manager at Orogel Fresco, adding that: “it is essential to promote an educational campaign to make fruit and vegetables better known. A project like Fruitylife helps consumers to identify fruit and vegetable products that are renowned for their quality, obtained by rigorously applying proven, guaranteed quality standards”. So what are the strong points of these targeted activities? “Activities in points of sale give us the chance to talk to consumers right at the time of purchase, when they are particularly interested, receptive and attentive to communications on the products that they are about to buy”, explained Gianluca Casadio, marketing manager at Apofruit. Stefano Soli, marketing and development manager at Alegraalso emphasised the importance “of telling consumers about the values and specific characteristics of fresh fruit and vegetable products inside the point of sale at the time of purchase, right when this information is most useful”. Massimo Brusaporci, director of Alimos, commented: “Our capillary presence in points of sale throughout the territory was certainly one of the strong points of the Fruitylife project, allowing us to adapt concepts that would otherwise seem abstract and make them simple and relevant, such as the production chain, production methods, quality control systems and guarantees. Moreover, linking the use of fruit and vegetables to moments of daily life brought consumers closer to us, stimulating interest and curiosity even about more general aspects linked to nutrition, wellness and the wide range of safe fruit and vegetable products offered by Italian and European producers. We're going in the right direction, and we need to keep on the same path, finding original and fresh ways to interpret it", concluded Mr Brusaporci.