Branding of Fruits and Vegetables

4. Branding of Fruits And Vegetables

a. World Scenario

Though branding of fruits and vegetables is a very difficult task , there are certain companies in the global market who are successfully and profitably branding certain selected fruits and vegetables . HortResearch is one such commercially focused research company, wholly owned by the New Zealand government, doing commendable work in both production, marketing and post harvest management of fruits and vegetables. It has developed world famous brands such as ZESPRI™ GOLD Kiwifruit, ENZA JAZZ™ brand apples and a range of other successful cultivars including blueberries, peaches and pears.

Another important player in fresh fruit branding is Chiquita. This company has its presence in 80 countries , but its major markets are the USA and Europe . It has been branding fruits such has grapes, stone fruit, apples, pears, kiwis and avocados and banana. Banana is the major fruit that the company brands and it amounts to 43% of the company's revenue.

b. Pre-Requisites for Branding of Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables can be branded using two techniques viz. ,

1. high precision means

2. low precision means.

In high precision means technique branding of fruits and vegetables commences right from the selection of various parameters like variety, farm, area of production etc. Hence the marketer is responsible for the entire process of production, harvesting , post harvest handling , storage , distribution and retailing.

This is in direct contrast to the low precision needs wherein the marketer is not involved in the production cycle of the commodity instead he is only involved in the identification of potential growing areas , branding of the fruits and vegetables is done , depending upon the brand specification through grading .

Low precision branding holds advantage over high precision branding as far as cost is concerned but in high precision technique reliability is more significant.

c. Why Branding of Fruits and Vegetables

With increasing level of hazards including pesticide residues and heavy metals contamination in most fruits and vegetables, available in the market today, consumers are focusing on branded commodities . Branded commodities thus tend to create a feeling of trust and reliability in the minds of consumer. Moreover in this era of fast paced life branded agricultural commodities provide a solution and also tend to simplify the consumer's decision making process. Branding also increases the shelf life of these highly perishable products Fruits and vegetables from certain geographical areas are so famous for their taste and quality, that these products can be relished by the consumers in any part of the world irrespective of geographical barriers, by the process of branding.

E.g:- Consumers in Europe or America can now relish authentic litchis grown only in Muzzafarpur district of Bihar in India. In India the fruits are harvested immature and are forcefully ripened and vegetables are harvested over matured. Branding to some extent removes these inefficiencies.

d. How Branding of Fruits and Vegetables can be done

For branding of fruits and vegetables, selection of variety, planting material, is of at most importance. Selection of variety should satisfy the following conditions.

1) Consumer acceptance.

2) Market demand.

The following attributes should be included with the variety which has been selected viz. shelf life and .attractiveness with respect to shape, colour and appearance.

For branding, the standard size and shape accepted in the local and export market needs to be studied and necessary strategy has to be developed depending on the consumer preference and taste. The first and foremost task of branding fruits and vegetables would be to identify the consumer preference and to ascertain the target market segments.

The second step is to identify the attributes that a buyer tries to co-relate with the product that he consumes, i.e. , in this case fruits and vegetables.

Attributes which the buyer identifies, also known as, determinant attributes such as freshness of the fruits and vegetables, as well as, fluctuating attributes like taste need to be ascertained by the marketer. See table no 1and 2 page no. 13 and 14. Following these cues, the marketer should be in a position to differentiate and brand the commodity.

Branding