The European production of Pink Lady has strongly increased in recent years. The volume in season 2014/2015 doubled compared to 2008/2009. Pink Lady has a goal for the coming years to present itself more to the younger consumer. "We want to rejuvenate the target audience. PinKinds was introduced to do this: the smaller apple, especially for the younger consumer," says Olivier Jauzion of Pink Lady during the Tomato conference in Antwerp in April. He is responsible for the sales in France and Belgium.
Rising production volumes in Europe
Pink Lady Europe
Olivier Pink Lady Europe's story. "The Pink Lady is an apple variety grown in Australia by John Cripps. In other languages the apples is called Cripps Pink. The apple is a cross between Lady Williams and the Golden Delicious. Pink Lady arrived in Europe in the 80's, the cultivation started in the south of France. At the moment there are 3000 growers, a group of tree growers (Star Fruits) who hold licences, 15 distributors and 110 packaging facilities. They make up the Pink Lady Europe union."
Seven out of ten
Pink Lady has strict quality demand and there is a checking system. "The growers produce a unique product with a constant quality. The Pink Lady looks the same all over Europe. The colour, the presentation, the sugar level, the sticker on every apple: the Pink Lady is very recognisable. Pink Lady is the perfect answer to want the consumer wants." The pink colour is very important. "Seven out of ten Pink Lady's meet the colour during harvest. The rest doesn't get the right colour and isn't sold as a Pink Lady."
Pink Lady at number two in Belgium
Marketing in Belgium
Pink Lady is a well known and recognised brand and has a premium positioning. "We use different media for our marketing expressions, including women's magazines. Pink Lady can also be seen on TV a few times a year: during the new harvest, on Valentine's Day and at Easter. The spontaneous brand awareness was almost 70% in Belgium in 2013 and the aided brand awareness was 86% that year. The effect of the advertising is regularly measures by a marketing bureau. In Belgium Jonagold is at number one and the Pink Lady is the second most well known apple."
miss Chef
Olivier emphasises that the apple has to be presented more 'attractively' in coming years. "The presentation has to be better and more modern in the supermarkets. It is also interesting to explain to consumers what they can do with the apple. We recently introduced miss Chef: the concept in which the apple is central and can be used for all kinds of recipes: www.miss-chef.com "