Opinion: Working To Expose The World To Florida Grapefruit

By Growing Produce Staff|September 28, 2010

The Florida Department of Citrus is continuing to grow the market for citrus by enticing health conscious, young consumers to discover Florida grapefruit. Our goal is to make fresh grapefruit and 100% grapefruit juice relevant to today’s consumer by emphasizing product benefits like taste and nutrition that underscore the value of Florida grapefruit.

Integrated marketing programs will reach target consumers cost effectively through innovative channels and drive increased consumption.

A Woman’s Touch

In the U.S., FDOC will entice health-and beauty-minded women age 24 to 44 to discover Florida grapefruit. These women increasingly rely on their personal experiences and firsthand recommendations from trusted sources to make daily decisions.

We’ll invite these influential female thought leaders in four major markets to attend exclusive grapefruit immersion events. Well-known experts will bring the benefits of grapefruit to life and deliver real life solutions to consumers’ health and beauty challenges.
As we convert event attendees into Florida grapefruit advocates, FDOC will provide the tools for our new grapefruit ambassadors to share their grapefruit experience through an online community, “The Juicy Scoop.”

By housing The Juicy Scoop on Facebook.com — currently one of the largest online social networks — these local conversations will grow into a national dialogue. Online banner ads featuring clever comments from “Frank the Flamingo,” our grapefruit aficionado, will drive traffic and encourage young women across the country to vocalize their passion about all things grapefruit and reveal their favorite health, beauty, and wellness tips to their peers.

Internationally, personal experience also is key to grapefruit discovery. FDOC will interact with active, urban women over 25 and health conscious males through product sampling at retail and consumer events to expand our customer base.

Global Reach

Messages emphasizing the benefits and value of Florida grapefruit will reach target consumers through print, broadcast, and online channels to encourage repeat purchases.

We will expand our Asian outreach beyond Japan to include Korea this year. FDOC will partner with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to highlight grapefruit in a spring “Fresh from Florida” in-store promotion.

FDOC also will conduct grapefruit marketing programs in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada.
We are confident that the FDOC 2010-2011 programs will positively increase demand for Florida grapefruit. As always, we will closely measure our activities to ensure they deliver a strong return on your investment and report results to you as they become available.