As the Australian table grape industry prepares to launch its summer season in the coming weeks, work has already been undertaken in eight international markets with the hopes of building demand and sales for the fruit.
Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the table grape marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consideration. In the recently released 2021/22 Annual Report, it highlighted that the 'Taste Australia' consumer marketing program for Australian Table Grapes ran from early April to the end of June in markets across Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
"The campaign was successfully managed across the different markets, with the primary objective to build awareness and preference for the premium commodity while driving sales in stores," the Hort Innovation report said. "However, due to COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain disruptions, the campaign did face several delays in the execution of the different activities, both offline and online. The program was designed with a full suite of marketing activities, including a season launch event across several markets; a retail program inclusive of sales-driven activities such as in-store displays, display competition, gift-with-purchase and samplings; online promotions to reach a wider audience and boost sales via e-commerce platforms or retailers’ websites."
The report outlined that $2.01million was invested in research and development, with $1.14million invested in marketing. Also, the production value of the Australian table grape industry grew at an average annual rate of 4.2 per cent over the five years to 2020/21. While COVID has impacted the volume of exports, the value of table grape exports has more than doubled in value in recent years, growing from $180 million in 2012/13 to $461 million in 2020/21.
Launching in an Australian restaurant in Tokyo, with the presence of local trade partners and importers, a retail program across multiple retail stores in Japan with an extensive array of activities, such as in-store displays, samplings, recommendation sales and promotional deals. It was a similar theme across the other Asian markets.
"In South Korea, this year’s campaign focused on in-store display and sampling activities," The report outlined. "Three major retailers (E-Mart, Lotte Mart and HomePlus) participated in the retail program to enhance the brand awareness of Taste Australia’s program and boost sales. In Indonesia, a media launch event at a major retailer was the initial introduction of the campaign, followed by a retail program across four of the biggest retail chains, accompanied by the deployment of point-of-sale materials, retail promotions and push-selling activities by trained staff members. In Vietnam, the scope of work was split across an online launch event, a retail program with sales-driven activities, support to importers and a media event in collaboration with Austrade, who co-funded the program in Vietnam."
In-person events in China were cancelled due to the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai and Guangzhou from March to early June 2022, and instead, an online event allowed industry media and trade partners nationwide to gather in a virtual space, with 70 attendees thanks to the collaboration with the Victorian Government. While in Malaysia, The Taste Australia “Embrace Grapeness” campaign was launched.
"This was to create awareness about Australian grapes’ wide variety and premium nature while communicating their taste, health benefits and seasonality," Hort Innovation said. "A multilayered approach was undertaken through the organisation of a virtual media event, which highlighted the arrival of the produce to market. This was supported through the delivery of a comprehensive retail program that included in-store displays, display competition, gift-with-purchase, and sampling activities. A total of nine retail chains participated in the program through various activities in Thailand such as in-store displays, samplings, display competition, gift-with-purchase, and online promotions.“
Domestically, 7.4 million Australian households purchased table grapes in 2021/22, and on average, Australians bought table grapes 9.2 times throughout that year. The domestic marketing strategy continued with the existing campaign ‘A Bunch of Joy’, this season, communicating the three core product attributes of taste, quality, and convenience. A strong call to action was used to drive awareness of peak season in each region.
New export brand launched for Australian produce
It comes as Hort Innovation launched its new Australian horticulture export brand "Grown in Good Nature" launched at Asia Fruit Logistica, with the aim of bringing to life how Australia’s good nature – in both geography and personality – empowers us to grow the greatest, freshest produce in the world.
Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield said the rebrand represents Australian horticulture’s strongest international market collaboration yet, and that export marketing campaigns are a key tool to grow demand for Australian produce.
“Grown in Good Nature is spurred by clear signals from industry that expanding our presence in international markets is a priority,” he said. “With the launch of Austrade’s Australia Nation Brand, there was an opportunity to work together to create a unified presence overseas while maintaining a horticulture-specific identity, and so, Grown in Good Nature was born. If Australia’s domestic production continues on its current growth trajectory, there will be close to 500,000 tonnes of excess supply by 2030. Grown in Good Nature aims to help curb that by lifting our profile overseas.”
Over the next six months, Grown in Good Nature marketing campaigns will launch in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. On top of trade show appearances, activities will include retailer partnerships, e-commerce, food service promotions, in-store displays, season launch events, food journalist engagement, TV coverage, employing social media influencers and more.
Grown in Good Nature is underpinned by more than $58M in Hort Innovation export initiatives – covering educational resources for current and aspiring exporters, in-market data insights, research and development to support protocol requirements and biosecurity measures.
For more information
Hort Innovation
Phone: +61 2 8295 2300
info@horticulture.com.au
www.horticulture.com.au