Articles (Public) Archive - Page 15 of 18

Australian Avocados Marketing Update 27/10/17

About the marketing program

See the latest marketing activity that’s helping Aussie consumers connect with (and eat!) Australian avocados. The industry’s marketing is managed by Hort Innovation and funded by the avocado marketing levy. Hort Innovation develops consumer-focused promotions using a variety of mediums including social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube as well as targeted partnerships with consumer-related publications and platforms.

Australian Avocados Facebook page reaching target audience

The Australian Avocados Facebook page has continued to post content that not only reaches a large number of consumers, but is something with which they are highly engaged. Nearly 1.6 million people were reached by the content in the month of September.
The top performer for this month was the “only squeeze me if you want to keep me” post which was successful for its cheeky take on a key message – how to pick the best avocado.

Another popular post was the video from the recent Studio 10 cooking segment. Reaching 389,000 people, it was a great way to expand on the television audience of the cooking demonstration.

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 27 October 2017.

Australian Avocados Marketing Update 13/10/17

About the marketing program

myfoodbook an avocado promotion success

As part of Hort Innovation’s levy-funded marketing activity for the industry, Australian Avocados worked with myfoodbook in 2016 to create and develop a range of avocado recipes, that could be then used across social media, and the Australian Avocados and myfoodbook websites. The recipes have now been on the myfoodbook website for a year, and have proved very popular amongst consumers. In that year, ending 1 October 2017, the Australian Avocados recipes have been viewed more than 154,000 times. The most popular recipe was the avocado, garlic and cheese pull-apart bread, which had more than 23,000 engagements, which included recipe views, saves, shares, video views and social actions.

The most popular avocado recipes on myfoodbook.

Digital activity

The Australian Avocado digital activity went live on 10 September 2017. This activity involves showing four perfect match videos, as well as the 15 second TV Commercial, and is targeted towards females 25-49.

The aim of this activity is to generate a high level of awareness, with the goal of the campaign to reach more than 1.7 million eyeballs over its duration. The activity will be tailored to relevant environments (i.e Mamamia.com.au for its female audience, and ‘food, lifestyle and health’ related websites for contextual relevancy), as well as on premium catch-up TV placements on 9Now, tenplay etc.

The results for the first three weeks of the campaign were great. The avocado videos were delivered nearly 560,000 impressions in this period. An ‘impression’ is when an ad is displayed on a webpage.

The Australian Avocado digital activity allows us to reach a large amount of our target audience where they are increasingly viewing their media. An example of this was an episode of The Bachelorette that aired on tenplay last week, in which Australian Avocados ads were placed. This single episode on catch-up TV had more than 179,000 viewers on, which were higher viewing figures that the Game of Thrones finale!

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 13 October 2017.

Australian Avocados Marketing Update 29/9/17

About the marketing program

August a great month for Australian Avocados on Facebook

Managed by Hort Innovation on behalf of the industry, the Australian Avocados Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AustralianAvocados/) is an important component of the industry’s marketing program. The page is liked by more than 186,000 consumers (whose ‘likes’, comments and shares on the page reach even further to their own digital social circles), and has an ‘always on’ approach that keeps Aussie avocados top of mind for consumers year-round.

More than 1.6 million people were reached by Australian Avocados content in August, the second highest result to date for the page.

The top performer for August 2017 was the ‘avocado satisfaction’ post. It gained the highest engagement rate (amount of comments, shares, ‘likes’ etc), as it caused a huge divide within the Avocado community with some commenters loving it and others not so much. Because of this, it created dialogue within the community with many coming to the agreement that avocados are the best fruit and though the spinning pit was interesting, eating the Avocado was better.

‘Avocado fries’ was the next best hit, as many commenters enjoyed the intriguing nature of the post. ‘Avocado fries’ did well as it was a different way of seeing and eating avocado as it showed avocado as being more than just a spreadable fruit or an embellishment to a main dish. Instead ‘avocado fries’ changed the role of the avocado into a main dish of its own and the community loved it.

‘Avocado Buddha bowl’ was also a hit in August as it referenced a current wholesome and nutritional health food trend. The Buddha bowl is a current food fad in most cafes and wholefood restaurants and it is also a very photogenic dish, worthy of everyone’s Instagram. A lot of the comments on this post centred around the simplicity of making the Buddha Bowl at home, with some commenters even going so far as making it and sharing their own tips and tricks.

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 29 September 2017.

Australian Avocados Marketing Update

About the marketing program

Australian Avocados feature on Studio 10!

Australian avocados were the focus of a segment on Studio 10 on Monday, 11 September 11. Celebrity chef Damian Heads cooked up three delicious recipes that showcased the versatility and ease of using avocados in a variety of dishes. Cooking live on set, Damian prepared an avocado smoothie, avocado salsa with steak, and avocado brownies.

The segment was hosted by Ita Buttrose and Sarah Harris, with all the hosts then sampling (and loving) the food that Damian prepared. With a key section of their viewers being young mothers who are responsible for the household shopping, it was a great environment to get the key messaging out. You can view the segment here – http://bit.ly/2gUNOTu.

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 15 September 2017.

Horticulture Code of Conduct – HPAs for growers

Do you have a horticulture supply contract, and is it legal?

If you’re an Australian fruit and vegetable grower, the Horticulture Code of Conduct may apply to you and the people you trade with. If the Code applies to you and you don’t have a valid Horticulture Produce Agreement (HPA) in place with each business that buys or sells your produce, you need to enter one as soon as possible in order to comply with the law. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner (ACCC) is responsible for enforcing the Code.

It’s in your interests to have a valid HPA in place with each trader you deal with. By not having one, you have less control over important commercial issues such as payment times and rejection of your produce.

Resources

Growcom has produced HPA templates for growers. These are available by clicking here.

What needs to be in an HPA

Your HPA establishes the conditions of your commercial arrangement with the trader and how you will be treated in the event of a dispute. A valid HPA establishes:

Payment terms
- how long a trader has to pay you
- what fees or commissions an agent will take from a sale
- how you and the merchant will decide on a price for your produce
Quality standards
- what the trader will use to determine whether your produce is of an acceptable standard
- this can either be an existing industry standard, or one that you and the trader agree on yourselves
Rejection rights
- under what circumstances can the trader reject your produce
- how long they have to reject your produce
Termination and renewal
- when you or the trader can terminate the agreement
- what rights you or the trader have to extend or renew the agreement.

What do I need to do?

The amount of time you have to enter into a valid HPA will depend on your current arrangements with the traders you supply.

If you are currently trading under an agreement that was entered into before 15 December 2006 or you have an HPA that complies with the old Code, you have until 1 April 2018 to enter into a new HPA or amend your existing one so that it meets the requirements of the new Code.

However, if you have a written agreement which was not valid under the old Code, or no written agreement at all, you may be operating illegally and need to enter into an HPA with each trader immediately.

What happens if I don’t have an HPA?

You aren’t complying with the Code if you don’t have an HPA with each trader you deal with. If you don’t comply with the Code, the ACCC may issue you with an infringement notice specifying that you pay a particular penalty amount (as an alternative to court proceedings). Or a court may order you to pay penalties.

The ACCC can ask growers and traders to provide any documents you are required to make or keep under the Code. This allows the ACCC to check compliance with the Code and take further action if you aren’t doing the right thing.

What is the Horticulture Code and what does it mean for you?

The Code is a mandatory industry code covering the sale of unprocessed horticulture produce, such as fruit, vegetables, edible fungi and nuts. The Code aims to ensure transparency and clarity of trading arrangements in the horticulture industry, and provide a fair and equitable dispute resolution procedure.

The Code first applied to transactions that took place after 15 December 2006. It was updated on 1 April 2017 to offer more protections and increased flexibility in trading arrangements. It now applies to all trading arrangements between a grower and a merchant or agent.

A ‘merchant’ is a business that buys your produce and then on sells it to another business in Australia; an ‘agent’ is someone who sells your produce for you. The Code refers to agents and merchants collectively as ‘traders’.

The next time you communicate with your agent or merchant, ask whether they know of the changes to the law and if you are both trading legally. If they are unsure, the ACCC has published guidance material online (www.accc.gov.au/horticulturecode), including example HPAs. Your grower representative body should also be able to assist you to comply with the Code.

This article was provided by the ACCC for Guacamole 1 September 2017. The Growcom HPA template link was added on 1 December 2017.

Horticulture Code of Conduct – HPAs for traders

Do you have horticulture supply contracts, and are they legal?

If you source fruit or vegetables from growers in Australia and sell them to other businesses, your business activities are likely to be subject to the Horticulture Code of Conduct. If you are covered by this Code, you need to have written contracts called horticulture produce agreements (HPA) in place with each grower as soon as possible in order to comply with the law. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner (ACCC) is responsible for enforcing the Code.

It is in your interest to have valid HPAs in place with growers. By not having an HPA, there is less certainty around important commercial issues such as pricing, delivery, and rejection rights. Therefore there is a greater risk of disputes arising.

What needs to be in an HPA

Your HPA establishes the conditions of your commercial arrangement with the grower and what happens in the event of a dispute. A valid HPA establishes:

Payment terms
- how long it will take for the grower to receive payment
- what fees or commissions you will charge as an agent
- how you and the grower will agree on a price for the produce
Quality standards
- how you will determine whether the produce is of an acceptable standard (this can either be an existing industry standard, or one that you and the grower agree on yourselves)
Rejection rights
- in what circumstances you can reject produce
- how long you have to reject produce
Termination and renewal
- when you or the grower can terminate the agreement
- what rights you and the grower have to extend or renew the agreement.

What do I need to do?

The amount of time you have to ensure you have a valid HPA with each grower will depend on your current arrangements with the growers you deal with.

If you are currently trading under an agreement that was entered into before 15 December 2006 or you have an HPA in place with a grower that complies with the old Code, you have until 1 April 2018 to enter into a new HPA or amend your existing one so that it meets the requirements of the new Code.

However, if you have a written agreement with growers which was not valid under the old Code, or no written trading agreement with growers at all, you may be operating illegally and need to ensure that you have an HPA in place with each grower you trade with immediately.

If you don’t have agreements in place with a grower you deal with, or you believe your agreement may not be compliant, you should talk to growers and advise them that you need to make a new agreement. It may help to let them know that there are advantages for both parties in adhering to the Code.

What happens if I don’t have an HPA with each grower I deal with?

Both you and the grower are not complying with the Code if you trade without an HPA. If you don’t comply with the Code, the ACCC may issue you with an infringement notice specifying that you pay a particular penalty amount (as an alternative to court proceedings). Or a court may order you to pay penalties.

The ACCC can ask traders and growers to provide any documents they are required to make or keep under the Code. This allows the ACCC to check compliance with the Code and take further action if you aren’t doing the right thing.

What is the Horticulture Code?

The Horticulture Code is a mandatory industry code covering the trade in unprocessed horticulture produce, such as fruit, vegetables, edible fungi and nuts. The Code aims to ensure transparency and clarity of trading arrangements in the horticulture industry, and provide a fair and equitable dispute resolution procedure.

The Code first applied to trading arrangements that took place after 15 December 2006. The Code was updated on 1 April 2017 to offer more protections and increased flexibility in trading arrangements. It now applies to all trading arrangements between a grower and a merchant or agent, even if they were initially entered into prior to 15 December 2006.

You are a ‘merchant’ if you buy horticulture produce and then on sell it to another business in Australia. You are an ‘agent’ if you sell horticulture produce on behalf of a grower, and charge a commission or fee for that service. The Code refers to agents and merchants collectively as ‘traders’.
Growers must also comply with the Code when they’re dealing with you.

The ACCC has published guidance material online (www.accc.gov.au/horticulturecode), including example HPAs. Your trader representative body should also be able to assist you to comply with the Code.

This article was provided by the ACCC for Guacamole 1 September 2017.

Australian Avocados Marketing Update 1/9/17

About the marketing program

Australian Avocados on Facebook

Managed by Hort Innovation on behalf of the industry, the Australian Avocados Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AustralianAvocados/) is an important component of the industry’s marketing program. The page is liked by more than 186,000 consumers, and has an ‘always on’ approach that keeps Aussie avocados top of mind for consumer’s year round.

In July, there were four video ads posted by the Australian Avocados Facebook page, as well as the two Betoota Advocate posts discussed in the last edition of Guacamole. Overall, more than 1.2 million people were reached by Australian Avocados content in July.

The top performer for this month was the ‘Avocado deficiency’ post that was shared from Betoota Advocate (http://bit.ly/2xHQcjt). It was a huge hit, as audiences enjoyed the satirical nature of the article and its response to the comments made by Tim Gurner and Bernard Salt about housing affordability. The post accumulated over 1,231 comments, with most highlighting the humour of the article and the community’s choice of choosing avocados over buying a house if only out of concern for their health.

‘Avocados: enough to destroy a Marriage‘ (http://bit.ly/2wYOAEG) was another hit in July and the second article shared from the Betoota Advocate. The post gained 924 comments and had the community again engaging with the Australian Avocados Facebook page with humour.

‘Avocado and Chocolate‘ was the top recipe post of the month. The video was viewed more than 189,000 times, with 412 people commenting about how they were interested in trialing the recipe and then, once trialed, returning to share tips and advice with the community.

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 1 September 2017.

Winter prices remain strong for avocados

The traditional winter price drop for avocados has failed to materialise this year, says Avocados Australia Chair Jim Kochi.

“As a North Queensland grower supplying the market at this time of year, I know from experience that through winter, prices tend to drop because consumers go a bit ‘off the bite’ for avocados after the first cold snap,” he said.

“That hasn’t happened this year with and I’ve heard of growers receiving up to $50 a tray.”

Mr Kochi said as well at a tighter supply in most regions currently, he put the change down to consumers extending their uses of avocado, and having confidence in using the fruit in a variety of dishes and meals.

“There’s never a shortage of avocados in winter, the change this season has been that returns to growers have remained quite high, with stock moving through stores quickly,” he said.

“I would say the consumer is more committed to using avocado now, regardless of the weather,” Mr Kochi said.

He said another important factor was improved retail displays, with single-layer fruit displays reducing the potential for bruising.

“I’ve also seen many displays that have ‘ready to eat today’ and ‘eat tomorrow’ to help consumers choose the best fruit for them.”

However, Mr Kochi warned all the good work of industry to increase year-round consumption to match year-round availability could easily be undone.

“We as growers need to make sure we keep quality high because we have to meet consumer expectations; without them we don’t have an industry,” Mr Kochi said.

“As long as we’re vigilant about quality, the consumers are happy to take our product, regardless of the weather.”

This article was produced for the Guacamole, 18 August 2017.

Australian Avocados Marketing Update 18/8/17

About the marketing program

The Betoota Advocate

As part of Hort Innovation’s levy-funded marketing activity for the industry, Australian Avocados has recently worked with popular satirical news website The Betoota Advocate (www.betootaadvocate.com) to publish two articles about avocados. The partnership was decided on to leverage the publication’s voice and social influence for avocados, and to lighten the conversation around consumer gripes.

Started in 2014, and now the most popular satirical news site in Australia, The Betoota Advocate’s growing readership base is largely driven via its social page on Facebook, where it boasts in excess of 330,000 followers. While based in inner Sydney, the site takes its name from the deserted regional Queensland town of Betoota, with its articles putting a comedic spin on current news topics and broader social observations.

Article 1 – a witty response to housing affordability

The first Australian Avocados article, published in early July, was a timely and witty response to the recent rhetoric around avocados and housing affordability. You can view the article, First Home Buyer Hospitalised With Avocado Deficiency, here.

Article 2 – tackling purchasing nervousness

The second article was to address one of the key purchase barriers of avocados identified by consumer research: nervousness about buying an avocado that is bruised or otherwise blemished inside. The goal was to educate consumers about correctly handling avocado, in a humorous way that would not put people offside. The resulting article, published in late July, was titled Husband Blames Farmers For Bruised Avocados At The Bottom Of His 20kg Grocery Run.

Campaign success

The Betoota Advocate campaign was a great success, with more than 1.8 million views of the avocado articles. Just over one million of these views were on The Betoota Advocate’s Facebook page, with 12,500 people clicking through to read the full articles on the publication’s website.

Total views of the articles on the website were close to 33,900, with the average time spent on the website was 1 minute and 15 seconds. This time shows that the people who went to the web page took the time to read the articles in their entirety.

Readers loved the avocado articles, with the overwhelming majority of comments on social media being positive. People were both amused by and supportive of the content, getting on board and extending upon both jokes in many instances. Overall, the campaign was an incredibly successful and cost-effective exercise in driving social brand awareness, based on trends relevant to our target audience.

This update was provided by Hort Innovation for Guacamole 18 August 2017.

Ripe & ready to eat in Singapore

This article appears in the Winter 2017 edition of Talking Avocados (Volume 28 No 2).

Ripe & ready to eat in Singapore

By Jenny Margetts, P2P Business Solutions

In recent week Australian exporters, Avocados Australia and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland have been working together to support ‘ripe & ready to eat’ export trials in the Singapore market.

“We have a great advantage in Singapore in that our fruit is the freshest and we want Singaporeans to be able to access ‘ripe & ready to eat’ Australian avocados,” Avocados Australia CEO John Tyas said. “We know from research here in Australia and in other countries that offering a ‘ripe’ selection of fruit will increase overall sales in the category.”

Antony Allen, CEO of The Avolution, who was supporting the trials in Singapore, said one of the challenges was to have consistently ‘ripe’ product in the best possible condition for the consumer.

“This means it’s important that everyone along the supply chain plays their role. In recent weeks we have been working with our importer to deliver a ‘ripe & ready to eat’ program through one of the supermarket chains in Singapore,” Mr Allen said.

The project team is delivering training to staff members tailored to meet the needs of the supply chain businesses and at the same time helping educate consumers in Singapore.

“Primarily, Singaporean consumers seem interested to know about how they can use avocados and how to tell if an avocado is ripe, so we are using point-of-sale leaflets to educate consumers on how to choose a ripe avocado, ways they can use them and why they should be buying Australian avocados,” Mr Tyas said. “They know that avocados are healthy for you and often use avocados in smoothies with milk or coconut milk and palm sugar.”

In recent store demonstrations in Singapore, customers were offered ripe cubed avocado dipped in cocoa powder and cayenne pepper – a combination of sweet and savoury, which most customers seemed to enjoy. Changing culinary trends in Singapore are also resulting ‘ripe & ready to eat’ in Singapore in avocados being used in other ways, such as in salads and guacamole.

The Mahota chef and product demonstrator for Australian avocados at the Prime Supermarkets’ flagship Mahota Commune store.

“It is also often said that Singaporeans prefer to buy their avocados unripened and wait for them to ripen at home,” Mr Allen said. “Our anecdotal evidence, from the work that has been undertaken in recent weeks, is that consumers may be more interested in purchasing ‘ripe’ fruit than the market expects. As part of the process, sales data and feedback from the supply chain partners in Singapore is being analysed to see how the figures stack up.”

The range of training materials Avocados Australia and DAF Queensland have developed for supply chain parties is being tested and modified to suit the market. It builds on previous industry work and aims to improve ripening and handling skills along the supply chain to the retail store.

Although the focus is on retail, the training being undertaken will also benefit food service supply chains that Australia services in Singapore.

On the Australian side, Avocados Australia is looking to support growers and exporters in the adoption of improved handling practices so that the fruit being offered in export markets is of the highest quality.

“We know that with the increasing supply of avocados in the coming years that the development of premium export markets will be very important for our industry,” Mr Tyas said. “We are heartened to see that growers are actively asking for information about how they can support and participate in export supply chains. During the next year, we plan to work with our exporters and growers to help the whole industry gain a better understanding of export requirements and have fruit that is export-ready.”

Acknowledgement
These market development activities are being undertaken as part of a project being funded by the Australian Government’s Package Assisting Small Exporters Program, the Avocado Export Company, Sunfresh and The Avolution.