Vegetable Seeds, from Bayer, is proposing solutions adapted to a highly fragmented market to the food chains.
Vegetable Seeds, the business unit belonging to Bayer that markets the vegetable seed brand name Nunhems®, has made an appeal to all the links in the food chain to develop a strategy that promotes the European melon and watermelon market.
The proposal is based on preliminary identification work of the main consumer trends in the fruit and vegetable segment and on a subsequent analysis with the sector’s participation.
During the seminar, participating international experts in marketing emphasised the importance of flavour as a selling point, rising even above the price, and the interest in a healthy diet.
Executives from companies such as Ramafrut, Pozo Sur, Hessing and Zenalco (Auchan Group) coincided in acknowledging that flavour must be a top priority.
In addition to this, the experts stated the need to promote, (particularly amongst children), the healthy values of melons and watermelons and the benefits contained by fruit in general. A possible threat was identified regarding the risk presented by certain critics of the excessive consumption of foods that are rich in industrial sugars could damage certain fruits with a high natural sugar content. “The solution lies in a joint effort being made by all the agents involved to ensure correct communication and to make people aware of the different types of sugar, in such a way that the fructose content is always interpreted as it really is: a clear benefit to health, as opposed to other products that are artificially sweetened”, Sjanny vanBeekveld, business manager of the consultancy IRI explained.
New formats. Research reveals that the market has recorded a slow growth, which is slightly more dynamic in the small watermelon segment with fruit of a size that is less than two kilos per piece. “In recent years we have worked hard to improve the vegetable aspect, the quality has been guaranteed and the consumer loyalty rate has increased, although we need to continue working to introduce more creative solutions, where the flavour is the undisputable star”, Vicente Navarro, general manager of marketing and sales for Vegetable Seeds emphasised.
The study shows that the new formats at the point of sale manage to break through the seasonality and increase consumption. “There is no point in believing that an overall solution satisfies everyone, because each consumer wants a differentiated product”, Paco González, general manager for the Iberian Peninsula and global manager of melon and watermelon marketing and sales at Vegetable Seeds stated.
Within the growing trend towards fruit snacks, the advisability of developing varieties with a longer shelf life and internal high quality has been identified. In this case, fruit is directly competing against sugary snacks that are already well accepted on the market. “One option to win the battle against traditional snacks is to use the same marketing techniques as these large brands and reposition them in the supermarket”, Hans Liekens, distribution manager from Hessing Supervers states.
