UK: Pink Lady apple sales on three
The record sales figures of 2011, combined with a flying start to 2012, has put Pink Lady firmly in the number three spot for the first time.
Sales have been bolstered by a number of consumer and trade promotions to start the year. The brand’s Valentine’s Day consumer competition saw sales increase on the same period last year, with 1.5 million special packs on shelves across Aldi, Booths, Budgens, Co-Op, Costco, Iceland, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Spar, Tesco and Waitrose, offering one lucky winner the chance to win a Pink Lady Fiat 500, worth over £11,000, plus 200 runner up prizes. The top prize winner was Samantha Williamson from Stockport who undertook a 500 mile roundtrip to collect her brand new bright pink car.
Similarly, wholesale buyers were offered £75 of Marks & Spencer vouchers for every second pallet of Pink Lady apples purchased during the month-long promotional period, plus the chance to win a weekend break in one of the European Pink Lady growing regions. This initiative, funded by Pink Lady Europe, saw trade sales increase by 67% on the same period last year, and has generated a new portfolio of brand-loyal customers for Pink Lady.
In addition, the latest promotion sees Pink Lady as the only fresh product selected by Morrisons to be part of its Disney promotion, which has seen sales of the variety increase by 26% in the first week of the promotion. The deal means shoppers can collect limited edition Disney cards when they shop in Morrisons’ stores and buy selected products – selected packs contain special cards which instantly win Disney soft toys or even VIP holidays to Disneyland Paris.
Andy Macdonald, managing director of Coregeo Ltd, the master licensor of Pink Lady in the UK, says: “We’re delighted to see sales of Pink Lady continue to grow, and to have overtaken Granny Smith in terms of value sales is a milestone for us. We have worked hard for our position however – we are continuing to invest in a solid consumer marketing campaign to continue to encourage trial and repeat purchases. The sales figures are very rewarding, but we won’t become complacent and will continue to find innovative, category-leading initiatives to promote the brand.”
He continues: “This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pink Lady being sold in the UK. During that time it has often been said that Pink Lady will eventually become a commodity apple. Well it hasn’t. We have maintained our premium brand status so that becoming a ‘commodity apple’ is as far away as ever.”
Following such a successful start to the year, Pink Lady has a busy year of marketing activity planned. A brand new website is launching later this month dedicated to the ever-growing membership of the Pink Lady Club, which currently has 32,000 members, as well as an innovative print and online advertising campaign, experiential activity in the summer, a PR programme, social media activity and the forthcoming inaugural awards presentation and exhibition for the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year.
For more information:
PamLloyd PR
Tel: +44 (0)117 924 7220
[email protected]