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EVS2015: Wilco van den Berg of Fresh Produce Centre recommended a collective strategy in order to boost consumption of vegetables
The challenge of feeding a rapidly growing global population while at the same time promoting an increase in vegetable consumption was described as an “opportunity for the sector” at this week’s European Vegetable Strategies conference in Brussels, Belgium.
Wilco van den Berg, manager of market analysis at Dutch group Fresh Produce Centre, revealed that demand was expected to rise by 50% in the next 20 years.
The main task, he said, was to persuade consumers to eat more vegetables, and he recommended a collective communication strategy to promote changes in consumer behaviour.
Projects in the Netherlands such as Veggie Time and Canteen Change have had an impact, he said, as has forming alliances with other parties, including health care professionals.
“We also need to make vegetables more available, at nurseries, in the workplace, in schools, in restaurants,” he said. “Introducing people to vegetables early in their life is a stepping stone to a healthy lifestyle.”
Hema says the promotion is designed to increase sales and cut food waste
Netherlands-based supermarket Hema has come up with an innovative way of boosting sales of its rapidly expanding line of fresh products. The chain has launched a ‘happy hour’ offering customers a 25 per cent discount on products including fresh meat, baked goods and fruits and vegetables during the final hour of trading each day.
A spokesperson for Hema said the aim of the strategy was to highlight the company’s expanding fresh offering as well as to reduce food wastage.
“Customers are still not sufficiently familiar with the fact that we offer fresh produce and one of our strategic goals is to focus on fresh and honest food that we want to make more accessible to people,” the spokesperson said.
Last month Hema appointed Andrew Jennings, formerly boss at Karstadt, as its new chairman as part of a wider overhaul of its management. The value retailer, which operates 538 stores in the Netherlands, is expanding its overseas presence, opening a number of stores in Belgium, Germany, France, the UK and Spain last year.
Pork farmers supplying Waitrose have saved an estimated £850,000 on feed per year since 2010, following a £3 million investment to roll out an innovative feeding system known as Eco Pig.
The feeding system has a lower environmental impact than traditional systems, according to Waitrose, which reported on the investment in the 2015 John Lewis Partnership annual report, published on 24 April 2015.
Waitrose has a sole pork supplier, Dalehead Foods, and its subsidiary, BQP, footed the £3 million bill.
Waitrose said its “respectful partnership approach” with suppliers had given BQP the ability to invest in the individual farms with which it works. “This helps to increase capacity, improve standards and efficiency, and encourage the next generation of farmers,” the annual report stated. “This respectful partnership approach has given BQP the ability to invest in the individual farms with which it works.”
The report added that, since 2010, 44 of Dalehead’s farmer partners have invested more than £13 million in buildings, during a period of low confidence in the sector as a whole, to create new capacity.
Ayrshire meat company, We Hae Meat, has rolled out its single-portion Scotch pie range to 62 Asda stores across Scotland.
Asda described the range as a “revolutionary” take on the Scotch pie, with fillings including BBQ Pulled Pork, Balmoral Chicken, BBQ Pulled Beef and Chicken Curry.
“Through the single-portion pie range, we’ve given the Scotch pie a contemporary makeover, using the kind of flavours and fillings that we – as a young modern family – would like to eat,” said Carlyn Paton, director of We Hae Meat.
“As butchers who are relatively new to the industry, we are proud to look at product development with fresh eyes and pick what we think will give the very best result – whether that’s a recipe inspired by tradition or current trends.”
The pies use quality-assured meat from the Paton family farm based at Cairnhill near Girvan.
“We’re hugely excited to bring our innovative pies and butcher’s shop roots to the convenience of the supermarket. Here’s to introducing a new wave of Scotch pie to the Scottish people!” added Paton.
Brian O’Shea, regional buying manager for Asda Scotland, commented: “The Scotch pie is a huge part of our national identity, but is at risk of getting stuck in the past if it remains bridled by convention.
“We are delighted to be exclusively stocking this revolutionary new take on the traditional Scotch pie.
“The innovative flavours, made with delicious ingredients, are exactly what our customers want. We Hae Meat has really hit the nail on the head with their exciting new range.”
The pies will be launched exclusively in Asda at a retail price of £1.50.
The Scottish meat industry has welcomed increased numbers of farmers joining Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) Quality Assurance scheme.
QMS reported more than 160 applications from new members have been received since the beginning of the year.
Jim McLaren, Chairman of QMS, said the response to the campaign to drive up membership had been very encouraging and he emphasised the importance of everyone in the industry continuing to work together to reduce the number of businesses which don’t yet benefit from quality assurance.
“Whether you are a farmer, haulier, feed company, auction market operator or a processor, it is vital to the future of these businesses and our industry that everyone is united in support of our whole chain quality assurance,” said McLaren.
As part of the campaign processors and auctioneers encouraging non-assured farmers to become members of the scheme.
The Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) welcomed the news also welcomed the news.
“Today’s announcement by QMS that 160 new members have applied to join its quality assurance scheme is excellent news for the whole industry, potentially cutting a serious point of “wastage” concerning Scotland’s livestock production,” said Ian Anderson, Executive Manager of the SAMW
“Some SAMW member companies have been writing to any farmers who deliver stock for slaughter without the necessary assurance backing, pointing out how much they are losing in income. These are often good quality animals, finished in Scotland but unable to be sold under any of the quality assured Scotch brands. Members have pointed out that the lack of the necessary assurance is a complete waste of precious resources and it is good that the message appears to be getting through.”
Meanwhile QMS have reviweed the membership fees for the scheme, resulting in farms with smaller numbers of animals have been reduced and the fees for farms with large numbers of cattle and sheep have increased slightly to offset this.
Unit sales have increased by 36.2 per cent year-on-year, and value sales are up by 18.1 per cent y-o-y thanks to ‘Potatokens’
Greenvale is celebrating what it claims to be an outstanding response to its current current ‘Potato Pals’ interactive initiative in retail stores.
Launched in February 2015, the aim of the cross-platform loyalty campaign in Tesco, Ocado and Booths has been to increase sales and generate trials of Greenvale’s branded All Rounder and Jacket Potatoes ranges.
The ‘Potato Pals’ loyalty scheme involves the collection of ‘Potatokens’ in order to claim a range of potato preparation and kitchen equipment.
Figures from grocery research bodies Nielsen and Dunnhumby show that unit sales have increased by 36.2 per cent year-on-year, and value sales are up by 18.1 per cent year on year.
Greenvale also developed a CRM system in order to maintain consumer enthusiasm for the promotion – emails, prize draws, recipes and potato usage tips have been deployed to encourage participants to keep collecting and redeeming points, and to share the promotion with their social media contacts.
According to the potato giant, this activity has generated over 3,500 Facebook ‘likes’ to date, and the highest ever number of unique visitors to the Greenvale website since its launch in 2012.
Tracey Mattock, Greenvale’s marketing manager, said: “This type of direct communication with shoppers was a new venture for Greenvale, and we are absolutely delighted to be delivering sign ups and entered codes above all expectations – between 200-400 per cent on a number of measures – plus the highest repeat rate in the last 12 months.
“The ‘Potato Pals’ scheme was designed to be a fun and attractive mechanism to extend GreenVale’s social media presence and to increase awareness, trial and purchase of our branded potatoes – and it is proving to be a fantastic success on every level.”
The scheme runs until August 2015
Grape intake reversed stress-related cognitive, behavioural and biochemical deficits, according to a University of Houston study
Results from a study recently published in the Journal of Nutrition Research have suggested that a grape-enriched diet may help over come the effect of stress.
In the study, researchers observed a protective role of grapes on stress-induced anxiety-like behaviours, and learning and memory deficits in an animal model of post traumatic stress, attributed to both gene activation and enhanced antioxidant activity resulting from grape intake.
This study, conducted at the University of Houston in the US, investigated the protective role of grapes against stress, and the mechanisms by which grapes achieved this.
For the animals on grape-enriched diets, freeze-dried, whole grape powder was added to the drinking water for 3 weeks, followed by either the stress or control exposure, and then behaviour tests.
The results showed that feeding the animals a grape-enriched diet prior to stress exposure successfully countered the detrimental effects of that stress on brain function and behavior. Specifically, grape intake prevented the memory impairment and anxiety-like behaviors that were observed in the rats with stress but no grapes in their diet.
The researchers propose that the protective benefits of grape consumption start with enhanced antioxidant activity that reduces oxidative stress levels: systemic markers of oxidative stress were reduced in the grape consuming group. Once the oxidative stress is minimised, activation of key genes that help promote the survival of brain nerve cells is triggered.
“Grapes appear to influence several processes that support brain health,” said Samina Salim, the lead investigator. “The potential interplay between grapes’ antioxidant activity and their impact on cell communication is very intriguing to us and we intend to study it further.”
Berry breeders have pooled resources in new programme to trial strawberry and raspberry varieties in the Netherlands
Scottish soft-fruit firm Angus Soft Fruits has partnered with Dutch company Genson BV on a new strategic raspberry and strawberry-breeding programme.
The arrangement between the two companies will see new varieties from Angus Soft Fruit’s breeding programme trialled in the Netherlands.
Selected varieties will then be used across all of northern and central Europe, excluding the UK.
Genson BV managing director Marc van Gennip said: “Access to a breeding programme that allows Genson BV to select new varieties to meet the specific requirements of their customer base both for fruit production and retail sales is an exciting new development for the future. Watch this space!”
“The Angus Soft Fruits model is very straight forward,” said Angus Soft Fruits’ R&D director, Dave Griffiths. “Our principal business is as producers of soft fruit. We are very clear that any changes or alterations to the varieties we propose from our breeding programme, offer a significant improvement over currently produced commercial varieties. We are delighted to be working with Genson BV and are excited by the new opportunities this offers everyone involved.”
Van Gennip added: “Over the past year or so, we have reviewed our activities in soft fruit and concluded that we would like to offer more to our customers both at the point of production and the sale of soft fruit.
“We looked at various models of innovation in the soft fruit industry and concluded that the Angus Soft Fruit model was most suited to our requirements. Angus Soft Fruits have, over the years really focused on the needs of their grower base and have demonstrated that an in house programme that has clear objectives can, over a short period of time, provide exciting options for those involved.”
Angus Soft Fruits has produced several successful commercial varieties in the past, including premium variety Ava, day-neutral variety Islay and long-season variety Avarosa.
The company also has several new June-bearer varieties in the final year of selection process for imminent release, as well as new raspberry varieties that show “great commercial potential”.
Italian apple association Assomela and the French inter-professional organisation Interfel have been awarded more than €2.8m in funding by the European Commission to support a three-year campaign aimed at boosting consumption of apples in non-EU markets.
The campaign, which has a combined budget of €5.6m including funds provided by Assomela, Interfel and their own governments, will continue the work carried out by the two organisations as part of a three-year project called European Fresh Attitude, which focused on apples and kiwifruit in so-called third countries.
The results of that project have been described as “extremely positive” by representatives of Assomela, which counts major apple suppliers Vog, VI.P, Melinda and La Trentina among its members.
The aim of the new project is to raise awareness and encourage exports of Italian and French apples to markets in Africa, China, the Middle East, Norway, Russia, South-East Asia and South Korea.
As well as enabling the groups to promote the campaign at key trade events likes World Food Moscow and Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong, the funds will also be used to pay for PR activities at point of sale and at major sporting events in Morocco, Israel and Norway.
Giulia Montanaro, head of international relations at Assomela, welcomed the EC’s decision to renew its financial support for the campaign.
“Consolidating and increasing exports of Italian apples outside the EU is fundamental at a time like this and the project that’s been approved can be a useful tool for our member producer organisations in reaching that objective,” she said.
Montanaro added that the new project’s approval had been made more likely thanks to the good collaboration between Italian and French counterparts over the past few years, a kind of cross-border teamwork that could make it easier to enter new markets in future.