The apple brand, Livinda, has arrived onto the top quality segment of the Spanish market, backed by its value of being local.
The Catalonian company Nufri will put around 20 million kilos of produce on supermarket shelves, which are suitable for competing in an extremely crowded sector where, at the moment, foreign apples are winning “the battle”.
Fruit Today euromagazine talked to Yeray Hurtado, head of marketing at Nufri, who explained the future challenges of its brand that came to the market consolidating to its origin and using the slogan “Ellas son de Aquí” (they are from here) (Campaign supporting women’s sports).
Is there going to be a before and after on the Spanish apple market with the arrival of Livinda?
I sincerely believe so; at least, this is our idea. We have worked very hard and we continue to do so to make people aware of the Livinda brand name. Livinda has a twofold advantage: quality that is comparable to European high mountain apples and its characteristic of being a local product.
From the production point of view, our 1,045 hectare farm in Soria, “La Rasa”, located at an altitude of 840 m, with some unbeatable physical and weather conditions backs us up.
How is the current season going?
We haven’t had any produce failures and the quality is good, therefore we are looking forward to a correct season, with some varieties showing greater consumption potential and amongst which the Golden, Gala and Fuji stand out. Our company, Nufri, holds a highly competitive position, with a market share of 12% and around 60 million kilos marketed.
Is it worrying that the Spanish supermarket shelves are full of Italian and French apples?
Worrying is not exactly the word, but we have a weak situation against foreign apples, with successful advertising campaigns that have known how to position the fruit. This is our challenge: having the capacity to reverse the situation using good communication, where the end consumer becomes aware of a local product with Premium quality.
Of course, we know about the importance of marketing and last year we staged the action “Llamarse como tú” (“Sharing your name”), which is still continuing at the moment. In 2017 we have committed ourselves to women’s sports, which luckily are in the front line at present, with the campaign “Ellas son de Aquí”.
However, you have an important asset in your favour which is responsible consumption related to local produce.
Yes, indeed. It is true that today, 2 out of every 3 apples that we eat are Italian or French and that for many years the Spanish market left a gap open, allowing certain brands to come into our houses. Today we can say, without any doubt, that the apples that Nufri produces on the Soria farm and also in Lleida, meet the same quality standards as any other apple.
Following La Rasa, what will the company’s next challenge be?
The first one is to consolidate Livinda, a medium and long term project. From this point onwards, we will carry out other projects such as our collaboration with Ifored to develop and market a red-fleshed apple.
