GFI GENERATES PROMOTION BOOM
Apples from south Tyrol and Zespri kiwis are a big hit with shoppers at street markets

Between May and July Germany’s wholesale markets association, GFI, held some 50 successful promotions at street markets, in greengrocer shops and retail market halls together with its marketing partners – EOS, Bolzano chamber of commerce’s south Tyrolean export organization, and Zespri International (Europe).

Uwe Kluge, GFI board member for Marketing, is delighted that 2008 has set new records: “Including the Pink Lady promotions we organized with Sopexa in February, we have already held 100 specials for quality conscious shoppers this year. And we have more events planned for autumn.”

Apples from south Tyrol: origin, quality and taste

In May, in the week before Whitsun, GFI organized 20 parallel promotions for EOS in 6 cities – Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne, Stuttgart and Munich.
 The marketing partnership, which previously involved wholesale promotions, was agreed during the 2008 Fruit Logistica trade fair in talks between the GFI board and Dr. Paul Zandanel.

The result was that EOS plans for national sampling events were extended to include street markets in order to communicate the values of origin, quality and taste to quality conscious shoppers at specialty shops and markets. These customers are brand buyers and especially susceptible to any appeal to the emotions. The communication, based on the phrase “enjoy me“, featured posters and a competition with an attractive prize (a week’s holiday on a south Tyrolean fruit-growing estate) and targeted this type of shopper.

Zespri: chef conjured up delicious kiwi snacks

From the end of May to the beginning of July GFI organized a total of 10 promotions for Zespri in 10 different cities – Bremen, Hamburg, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Munich and Leipzig.

The tried and tested partnership was expanded this year. At a meeting in Antwerp this April the GFI board and Zespri’s marketing manager, Jean-Louis Warnimont, agreed on more advertising and press work to publicize activities at specialist retail outlets.

There was a new highlight for these promotions: a professional chef was at the market to conjure up delicious Zespri snacks using fresh produce from the street market. He showed eager gourmets his best kiwi recipes, answered questions and gave handy tips about how professionals work in the kitchen.

Uwe Kluge believes there is still a great deal of potential in the marketing partnerships strategy: “There is no sign of the promotion boom ending. The increasing popularity of our fresh produce network enables producers and marketers to implement their brand strategy without restrictions. We’ll be having more promotions in the autumn.”

GFI organizes sales channels events at street markets, greengrocers and covered markets for their partners and their brands. The association takes central responsibility for overall planning and coordination of the promotions. The local GFI wholesale markets plan the details of the campaign in their city and how to involve the marketing partner in the event. They use their knowledge of local trade and media structures to ensure their marketing partners need have no fear that customer communication is wasted on the wrong target groups.

About GFI German Wholesale Markets
GFI German Wholesale Markets was founded in 2000 and represents the interests of Germany’s 17 major wholesale markets. GFI is the central point of contact for national and international growers seeking to market their produce through quality, independent food retail channels. GFI offers its members a forum for the structured exchange of information and insights on ways to market wholesale markets; it also offers public platforms such as a joint stand at the Fruit Logistica and its own website, www.grossmaerkte.org

About German Wholesale Markets
These fresh produce centres guarantee a wide variety of top quality fresh produce, especially fruit and vegetables. At these central, urban trading platforms around 2,600 small and medium sized wholesalers, importers and growers supply fresh produce from the region and all over the world to more than 53,000 customers in the specialist, independent food retail business such as greengrocer shops and street markets and to large-scale caterers and top restaurant chefs. Annual turnover of goods is around 7.4 million tonnes with a total value of roughly 9.8 billion euros. Germany’s wholesale markets thus ensure the availability of good, nutritious food for around 100 million consumers in Germany and neighbouring European countries.