Global Berry Congress focuses on soft fruit seasonality

Seasonality in fresh soft fruit is set to be the focus of a brand-new marketing campaign, which will focus on the seasonal qualities of berries from the UK, Chile and Spain. This was one of the key announcements from last week’s Global Berry Congress organised by Eurofruit Magazine, the first-ever international event of its kind to focus on this dynamic sector.

The two-day event, which met from 15-16 May in London, attracted more than 250 delegates from 24 different countries, reflecting the rapidly increasing importance of the berry segment within the global fresh produce market.

Opening the conference, Chris White, managing director of Market Intelligence Limited, publishers of Eurofruit Magazine, said the berry business was now a year-round category, which demanded a “real level of sophistication” in the supply chain.

One of the highlights of the congress was the announcement that the UK berry industry is to launch a brand new campaign called Seasonal Berries, designed to celebrate the seasonality not only of British berries but also imported fruit from key supply sources including Chile and Spain.

The 12-month, integrated campaign, which will replace the existing British Summer Fruits and Winter Berries campaigns, will begin next month in time for the start of the UK berry season and, according to Kate Shanahan of marketing agency Sputnik Communications, has been designed to help sustain recent growth in the UK berry market. “There is a perception among consumers that imported berries taste worse than

UK ones, so there are going to be new opportunities to prove them wrong,” she told delegates.

The British Summer Fruits project will continue to provide marketing support to the UK berry trade as part of the new set-up, with its website remaining an important reference point for growers and marketers.

The new campaign comes as delegates learnt that the year-on-year market value of the berry segment has risen by 14.1 per cent to £76.5m so far this year (to the week ending 20 April 2008) , according to Edward Garner, research director at TNS Worldpanel.

“The market trend for berries in the UK is remarkably positive, with sales nearly doubling in the past seven years,” he said. “The average price has hardly moved, so it’s all about volume – the fact is that more people are buying them and in greater quantities. Berries are therefore a hot prospect for retailers.”

Continuing to work to improve the visual appearance, flavour, aroma and texture of berries remains a key area of work for berry supplier Well-Pict European, according to the company’s technical director, David Johnston. He argued that this was still an area where there was plenty of room for the berry industry to improve sales, with blackberries in particular likely to present a “huge opportunity” for the future.

Leading UK strawberry breeder Peter Vinson, who is also chairman of BerryWorld, revealed that his company, Edward Vinson, had developed two important new strawberry varieties, Eve’s Delight and Sweet Eve. The varieties, which boast high sugar content, low acid and a strong aroma, will be available commercially next year.

However, Nigel Kerby, managing director of Mylnefield Research Services, did sound a note of caution among the predictions of sales success. Mr Kerby warned that climate change is likely to have a “serious affect” on the global berry industry, while water efficiency is also likely to become a major concern.

Oscar Verges, director of leading grower and marketer Royal, also said access to water is likely to become increasing important for berry growers. “I believe water will be the scarce resource of the 21st century,” he said.

On a more positive note for the berry sector, environmental researcher Dr Adrian Williams from Cranfield University slammed the ‘food miles’ concept as “utterly confusing and misguided”, arguing that unless all data from field to fork is considered it is impossible to judge the impact of imported produce on the climate.