“Seedless lemons have been called the holy grail of the citrus industry with its novel solution to the frustrations of fishing out pips from freshly squeezed juice,” says Abs van Rooyen, founder of the ClemenGold® mandarin brand owned by Fruitalyst.
The company has taken the lead in the branding and marketing of seedless lemons from the African continent through exclusive rights to the two seedless lemon varieties available to South African growers.
Seedless lemons, although not yet available in large enough volumes to satisfy the growing global demand, are increasingly capturing the attention of chefs and home cooks around the world. The company notes that retailers are showing great interest in converting the lemon shelf to seedless providing that producers can deliver in terms of their whole-year demands.
Currently 9% of all lemons in production in South Africa are seedless with a total of 1,372 hectares of 2PH seedless lemons planted since 2015.
“There is opportunity to expand the seedless lemons plantings with another 3,000 ha (roughly 1,000 ha in the North and 2,000 ha in the Cape regions),” Abs says.
Change to China citrus shipping protocol a boon for SA seedless lemons
Following the change in cold steri protocol for the export of lemons to China in 2021, Fruitalyst launched the LemonGold brand with three selected receivers in China with great success.
“The change in the shipping protocol opened up a large market for seedless lemons from South Africa. In China, premium fruit are highly valued and imported brands are revered for their quality. Our footprint and established relationships with these importers and retailers provide us with exciting marketing possibilities to explore and their enthusiasm for the brand and marketing campaigns is inspirational,” says Adéle Ackermann, marketing manager.
She adds that various global markets are ready for and excited about the availability of seedless lemons and brands associated with the product. “With the introduction of the LemonGold seedless lemon brand in South Africa, Europe and Asia we’ve made good headway in unlocking new markets and drawing consumers’ attention to the convenience of seedlessness,” she says. “Although LemonGold’s marketing campaigns consistently focus on introducing and reminding consumers of the versatility of lemons, we find customers are already attuned to its nutritional and health benefits.”
In South Africa, Fruitalyst has an exclusivity supply agreement with premium retailer Woolworths, similar to their supply agreement of ClemenGold® mandarins.
Seedless lemon grower: “It has exceeded our expectations”
Fruitalyst recently shared its seedless lemon strategy with existing and prospective growers in South Africa. There is opportunity to potentiate significant growth and success for the growers, enabling them to stay ahead of the curve and ultimately achieve their business ambitions, the company says.
“Packing into a trusted and established brand provides consumers with guaranteed quality, while ensuring premium returns to the farm,” remarks Emile van der Westhuizen, agricultural manager for Bavaria Fruit Estate in Hoedspruit, Limpopo. “The brand provides a competitive advantage in lemon markets which are often saturated.”
The 2PH seedless lemon cultivar (one of the two offered by Fruitalyst) has exceeded their expectations in terms of yield and fruit size, Emile says. “It is a wonderful cultivar with great flavour, high juice content, a beautiful shape and smooth rind.”
Zylon McGaffin from Du Roi Nursery in Letsitele, accredited to supply seedless lemon plant material, points out that in the current economic climate, it has become crucial for farmers to differentiate their crop from the rest, either through branding and marketing or through superior genetics.
“Seedless lemons’ timing of harvest is complementary to a farmer’s basket as we see it harvested three to four weeks earlier than Eureka Lemons. While we encourage growers to plant the new variety, top working existing orchards of non-performing varieties is a quicker method to market.”
Second brand to be launched soon
In an effort to offer growers of seedless lemons an opportunity to market the whole crop, including the class 2 fruit, the Fruitalyst marketing team has developed a second seedless lemons brand, called Chef Lem.
“The Chef Lem brand, with its happy, friendly and visually accessible lemon chef character as its core identifier, and its bright blue and yellow colours, will aim to create a differentiated marketing offering stretching across a variety of retail environments,” Adele notes.
“The versatility of lemons as a flavour enhancer and excellent health attributes backed by research, comfortably include lemons in the ever-growing healthy lifestyle trend. Foodies even call it ‘the new salt’. Seedlessness elevates this value proposition even more, with consumption convenience established as another global trend.”
For more information:
Mdu Khumalo
Citrogold
Email: tms@citrogold.co.za
https://www.citrogold.co.za/