Zespri has kicked off its 2021 SunGold kiwifruit marketing campaign in North America, with the first supplies set to arrive in mid-May.

The New Zealand-based company says that SunGold is now the largest and top-growing kiwifruit, and that retailers can drive sales by making it easier to find.

Shoppers are better able to locate SunGold in the produce section with its newly designed vertical packaging, which is stackable and easier to merchandise.

“Zespri is the world leader in premium kiwifruit and our kiwi is outpacing total fruit growth by eight points,” explains Sarah Deaton, the company's shopper marketing manager.

“With Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit we achieved 47 percent sales growth through 2020 and there is continued high consumer demand making it a basket value driver. Our market development managers are available to help retailers develop in-store promotions created specifically for their shoppers to increase sales.”

To build on the success of its popular SunGold Kiwifruit variety, Zespri is introducing “Taste It To Believe It,” a 360^o marketing campaign highlighting the unexpected flavor experience consumers have when they try a SunGold kiwifruit for the first time.

Consumers will be enticed to try Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit through various touchpoints during Zespri’s consumer sampling program across the U.S.  The digital component will include social, email, online video and display advertising in addition to driving trial with Free Standing Inserts, direct mail, Ibotta and coupons.com campaign and event activations.

The consumer campaign will carry through Zespri’s updated creative on the in-store display showing the yellow, juicy texture of SunGold kiwifruit and “Tastes Like Wow” graphics along with nutritional information.

“The bold graphic on the packaging sleeve and display captures the burst of flavor consumers get when they bite into Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit,” explains Deaton. The display also features a QR code to drive consumers to the website for recipes and details on the promotion. Due to the success of the display shipper and package design, Zespri increased the order quantity by 300 percent over the prior year to meet demand.

Retailers are encouraged to build large, eye-catching displays in and out of the produce section to drive incremental sales. As an example, one retailer featured Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit for a month, which included a TPR and three display bins at the front of the store.

The result averaged a 200 percent dollar sales lift over the month. Additionally, an independent study indicated that shoppers rated their shopping experience higher when SunGold kiwifruit was on display.

See also: The growth of a kiwifruit giant