Mike Knowles

The secret of good comedy…? Timing, of course. As it turns out, the secret to growing sales of fresh mangoes and papayas is not too dissimilar. As we report in this month’s issue, European mango and papaya importers and marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to provide consumers with a ready-to-eat product – ripe at the point of sale and timed to perfection. The convenience of fresh-cut may be a good way to add value, but ripeness is no longer an optional extra.

As the European economy begins to take a nosedive and inflation rears its ugly head once again, the growing importance of getting product quality exactly right and of safeguarding repeat purchases will not be lost on those looking to sell fresh fruit and vegetables. For those companies which have invested heavily in branding – such as Total Produce, which will officially launch its new brand TOP later this month – the stakes are even higher. But, as our interview with Total Produce chief executive Rory Byrne (News Focus, p16-17 of Eurofruit Magazine August edition) suggests, the economic slowdown may not be all bad news. For the strongest, most expansive companies, a downturn can provide valuable opportunities to make acquisitions and steal a march on the competition. In times of economic difficulty, people tend to go with what they know and trust, and for the fresh produce trade’s leading brands, that could also prove to be an advantage. Here, success could again depend on the timing – the right acquisition at the right time, or the right product in a particular market at the opportune moment.

Last month, we spoke to James Harvey of Fresh Del Monte UK about the challenge his company faces in convincing retailers to stock its branded fruit instead of opting for private label supplies. In the last 20 years, there has been a clear move away from supplier brands at a consumer level, with the likes of Tesco Finest, Edeka’s Rio Grande and a growing number of French private labels dominating their markets. As a result, supplier brands have been confined largely to the supply chain, with the exception of those that have huge amounts of trade support or which have a very distinct profile. While received wisdom suggests these brands are more or less finished at consumer level, the recent launch of Kirikou (see Brand Dossier, p23 Eurofruit Magazine August edition) would suggest otherwise. With a strong profile and a clear, emotive message via its links with Unicef, this is a brand which has apparently timed its appearance just right.

Mike Knowles

Protecting the environment is clearly a worthwhile enterprise. Even if you don’t subscribe to the theory that our planet is overheating as a result of excessive carbon dioxide production, a more concerted push towards sustainable use of resources surely makes sense to most people. As budgets tighten across Europe and inflation continues to bite, it’s probably not a bad idea for us be more efficient. Over the past few years, the amount of fuel we burn has caused concern among the green lobby. This year, it’s causing strikes among truck drivers. The way we deploy what are ultimately finite resources has got to change. All of a sudden, supposedly hair-brained schemes like sailing vessels across the ocean with kites tied to the front of them don’t seem like such fanciful ideas.

For those looking to science for answers to the major green issues, the major obstacle tends to be that, generally speaking, people nowadays are suspicious of scientists, despite its many past successes. At our recent FRESH Congress, which we review in full on p30-34. Lord Taverne, a UK parliamentarian who is a prominent backer of GM crops, lamented the public’s suspicion of scientific research, something he feels could actually provide answers to the current food crisis.

The reality is that environmentalism isn’t just about saving the planet, it’s also about changing it for the better. For that reason, practical measures put forward by the scientists – GM, pesticides – are often shouted down by the likes of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The challenge for the scientific community will be to communicate with consumers as effectively as, if not more effectively than, the lobby groups themselves.

Crop protection companies like Monsanto and Syngenta, for example, will have their work cut out over the next few years reassuring retailers that their pesticides continue to be safe, while holding back the tide of legislation that is threatening to wash pesticides away altogether. Consumers are already voting with their feet by buying more and more products that are shown to be environmentally friendly and from sustainable sources. No wonder then that companies like Capespan, Dole, Zespri, Chiquita and others are more eager than ever to put forward evidence of their own pro-active measures in this area.

Mike Knowles

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay courted controversy last month when he suggested that new laws be introduced to fine restaurants that sell out-of-season fruit and vegetables. His suggestion, I have to say, is a little hard to digest, particularly when you're sat in the guy's new Plane Food restaurant at Heathrow’s Terminal Five and considering whether or not to plump for the Bramley and Pink Lady apple crumble. The Bramley is definitely going to be from the UK, but what nationality is a Pink Lady these days? I also noticed there were green beans, white asparagus, carrots, spinach and mashed potatoes on the menu; will these all be removed once the British season has finished? We should keep an eye on the menu (available online) to find out.

Seasonality ought to be celebrated rather than scandalised. The new UK berry campaign Seasonal Berries, launched at this magazine's new Global Berry Congress in London last month, does precisely that, encouraging consumers to enjoy high-quality soft fruit from the UK, Spain and Chile at different times of the year. In an age of growing environmental awareness, buying local produce in season is certainly preferable, but that's not to say that the same in-season product from overseas will necessarily be inferior.

Meanwhile, as most of Europe prepares to support their team at Euro 2008 (a classic example of an industry sustaining interest in a product once the domestic season has finished), I wonder how long it will take the fresh produce sector to catch up with other food sectors in targeting football fans. There are signs that it may be happening – Jaffa is now sponsoring a youth football team in the UK, Nicolas Anelka has taken time out from missing vital penalty kicks to endorse bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique, and Chiquita has been handing out inflatable bananas at the Champions League final. However, support for such promotions needs to be more evident at an official level. Last September, UEFA and the EC launched the Get Active! campaign to encourage more physical activity and a healthier lifestyle, reaching around 100m people through a 30-second TV advert shown during the half-time break of each of the 125 Champions League matches. But as European produce associations AREFLH and Freshfel Europe point out, the EC needs to underline more clearly the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption. After all, football fans are among the most voracious consumers of all.

Mike Knowles

An interesting new service launched last month by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture is giving anyone who sends a particular code via SMS the chance to receive a list of officially approved fresh fruit and vegetable prices direct to their mobile phone. The idea is that, armed with such information, shoppers up and down the peninsula will be able to make informed decisions about whether or not the price of a pomodoro is astronomic or simply gastronomic. "This public service will help Italian shoppers protect themselves against prices that are much higher than the going rate," said a ministry official.

The Italian government, due to be freshly squeezed into office this month as Silvio Berlusconi busily unpacks his own unique brand of chauvinism and sets out on his third stint as Prime Minister, finally seems to be cracking down on the problem of price speculation, one that has dogged the country in recent years. Consumers are now in a position to tip off the authorities about exorbitant prices by texting the name and location of the offender to the new hotline. Armies of grey-suited Guardia di Finanza officers are reportedly waiting just around the corner, ready to jump out and give the naughty shopkeepers a jolly good telling off.

Please forgive my light-hearted reaction. If Berlusconi's boys (oh, and not forgetting those better-looking, right-wing ladies) really are going to rap some knuckles and pull unscrupulous vendors into line, then I will be the first to congratulate him. The last thing the fresh produce trade needs is speculation on top of inflation, so anything with the potential to keep some sort of lid on the practice is worth pursuing.

The topic of food price inflation is hotter than a Moscow hotel manager's phone* at the moment, so the fact that FRESH is just around the corner means there will be plenty to talk about at this year's event. Personally, I’m looking forward to the session on lobby groups, in which a panel of speakers from Greenpeace, WWF and Solidaridad will explain how Europe's NGOs are developing a brand new agenda on issues such as carbon footprint, food miles, water usage and corporate social responsibility. Finally, the fresh produce trade has an opportunity to receive the message first-hand.


*Champions League final - Manchester United to win 2-0

Mike Knowles

Go on. Have a bowl of goji berries, then come back and tell me whether or not you feel any healthier. Not sure? Surely the fact that a whole gaggle of celebrities is raving about how great berries are is proof enough? No? Madonna is telling anyone who cares to listen that she can’t get enough of those wonderful Himalayan goji berries. Apparently, they can improve your eyesight and circulation, protect your liver, cleanse your aura, wash your car, tidy your room, clean your teeth and comb your hair. One report even suggests they boost your sperm count. Hmm, perhaps Madonna isn’t telling us everything. Assuming it’s all true, though, I’m going to stop writing, call my bank and tell them to invest all my money in this amazing product.

But wait, it turns out the evidence is not so clear-cut. In fact, there is no clinical study or regulatory authority that has scientifically verified the claims made about goji berries. For the berry sector as a whole, health claims – some of which are indeed backed by real scientific research – have made the job of marketing fruits like raspberries, blueberries and blackberries to increasingly health-conscious consumers much easier over the past few years. But the science needs to be developed further. At the beginning of October, UK drinks company Innocent was told to withdraw an advert in which it described its acai berry, pomegranate and blueberry drink as a “natural detox superfoods smoothie” that could completely remove toxins from the body. The country’s Advertising Standards Authority said Innocent had not proved the claim, adding that it had failed to back another claim that the drink had more anti-oxidants than the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

What the research needs to show is what effect the high levels of anti-oxidants found in fruits such as blueberries and blackberries actually have on the human body. As nutritionist Catherine Collins told a BBC investigation in February: “Just because something is a superfood in a test tube, it doesn’t make it a superfood in us.” Along the right lines is new research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences just last month. This evaluated the ability of ellagic acid in berries to reduce DNA damage, which can lead to cancer. The study found that eating blueberries and strawberries led to moderate reductions in such damage, but for raspberries the effect was even more pronounced, with DNA damage reduced by 59 per cent.

Only by backing up its health claims with more indisputable evidence will the berry sector be able to sustain its recent staggering growth.