A deal has been agreed, which will see Aartsenfruit become the major supplier of Bimi® to the Benelux region wholesale market. Bimi® was traditionally bred by crossing broccoli and Chinese Kale. It is a long slim, elegant-looking vegetable, rich green in colour - even when cooked. With a growing demand for the product throughout the Benelux countries, Aartsenfruit has developed its relationship with Coregeo®, the pan-European master licensor of Bimi®, by working together to grow the brand and raise awareness of this vegetable.
Michelle Toft, Chief Marketing Officer at Coregeo® commented on the deal: “We’re excited about the prospects for the Bimi® brand across Europe and it’s made all the more exciting by working with a truly dedicated team like the one at Aartsenfruit. We know that clear branding will play a key role in meeting our growth targets and we’ll be launching the partnership with Aartsenfruit with new fully-branded Bimi® packaging across wholesale.”
“Our work with Tenderstem® (the UK’s brand name for Bimi®) means we are bringing all of our learnings and knowledge with us to the Bimi® brand. We know the value of the wholesale market and have seen major growth within this sector in the UK for Tenderstem®. Branding and packaging will play a key role in our marketing strategy. We also understand the value of the catering and restaurant market for this brand.”
Fresh produce brand marketing specialist, Coregeo® took over the brand licensing and marketing of Bimi® in April 2016, as an extension of its relationship with the brand owner Sakata Seeds Europe. Coregeo® has seen year-on-year double-digit growth of Tenderstem® (the market name for Bimi® in the UK) since it began work with Sakata in 2005. Aartsenfruit’s knowledge and understanding of brands within the fresh produce category makes them the ideal partner to develop sales of Bimi® with the Benelux wholesale markets.
Jasper van der Sandt of the Aartsenfruit group spoke about the product: “After seeing the value of the brand and potential growth opportunities we recently became a licensee of Bimi®. Having a previous knowledge of the product we were able to call up our wide network of contacts across Europe to secure a deal that sees Aartsenfruit become the first Bimi® licensee to provide a continuous year-round supply of European grown Bimi® to our suppliers.”
For more information, please visit www.coregeo.co.uk.