In the framework of the eighth edition of the fair Fruit Attraction, Freshuelva presented the new nutrition label that member companies may use this campaign to boost the sale of berries, whose content responds to a study conducted by the Agro-business Technology centre of Huelva, Adesva, commissioned by Freshuelva, with the cooperation of CaixaBank.
During the presentation, the President of Freshuelva, Alberto Garrocho, has argued that Huelva's companies "not only export fruit, but we also sell health to a consumer who is increasingly concerned about eating healthy products like ours."
Therefore, he stressed the importance of this new nutrition labelling, which responds to "Freshuelva's concern to be always on the lookout for something extra for the members of an organization like ours, which covers 94% of the berry sector."
In this regard, he believed that this new label will contribute to a better marketing of the products sold by Freshuelva and will make it possible "to continue the strategy developed by the association, for the sector to work together to sell the fruit; each company with its own strategy, but with everyone under a single, generic line."
For his part, the manager of Freshuelva, Rafael Domínguez Guillén, stated that the new label, which will meet the new requirements on nutritional components imposed by the European Union, will first have to be approved by the Spanish Consumer and Food Safety Association (Aecosan), after which, Freshuelva will proceed to design it, register it and prepare advertising slogans that will include information from the study results, which will be reflected on the label, such as "Source of vitamin C."
The manager of Freshuelva has stressed the importance of the content of the labels approved for each of the berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries), because "we are talking a lot about health. Consumers want healthy products and this provides them with more knowledge about the quality of our products. Many companies are aware of the importance of making an effort to promote the healthy properties of our fruits."
For her part, the Adesva technician in charge of the study, Ana Arias, explained that the initiative, which has become a reality thanks to Freshuelva and Caixabank's "trust" in Adesva, is the second stage of a first labelling, also intended to identify the nutrients of berries, carried out in 2008 and 2009, which now has to be renewed because the current mandatory nutrition information includes more parameters."
As explained by Arias, the new label's objective is both to reflect the modifications made to the standard and to boost berry sales with the aid of scientific data, as these will serve to gain the trust of the consumer.
The initiative has been applauded by the General Secretary of Agriculture at the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Government of Andalusia, Rafael Peral, because "it goes in the direction of what needs to be done in the markets."
After congratulating Freshuelva, he stressed that the berry sector of the province of Huelva "truly takes the final consumer into account; it is a really export-oriented sector," adding that this labelling "provides enough extra value to the consumers, who need it, because they are very concerned about their health and what they eat."
In her view, "such initiatives are key to the future because, in the coming years, the fruit and vegetable sector will grow, boosted by the desire from people to eat healthy, and our products are an asset in this regard." She then warned that, "the sooner we make it clear what it is we are producing and how we are doing it, the better."
Meanwhile, the commercial director of companies at CaixaBank, José Ángel Hernández, welcomed the opportunity to, "once again, collaborate and contribute to the development of the sector, as we have been doing for many years," after which he showed a "commitment to continue to do so in the future, because in the current context, it seems that it is no longer enough to produce; the sector needs initiatives like this one."
Lastly, the Deputy of Agriculture of the Province of Huelva, Ezequiel Ruiz, expressed the support of the provincial institution for all initiatives carried out by the berry sector, such as this one, which is aimed at promoting the products.
For Ruiz, "it is very important to clarify everything related to the components of the products we consume, because we want that information to be clear, and in this case, we are talking about very high quality products." He then congratulated Freshuelva, CaixaBank and Adesva for making this new labelling possible.