Running a promotional campaign designed to enlighten consumers about the dangers of intensive agriculture and its impact on fertile soil is not an easy task. Not only do you have to compete with a myriad of marketing messages in both conservation and retail terms, but also ensure your particular point actually resonates with the masses. CEO of international fresh organic produce distributor Eosta, Volkert Engelsman is trying to do just that and he's using organic fruit and vegetables to help him. Here, he talks with www.freshfruitportal.com about the progress of the 'Save our Soil' campaign. 

Raising awareness of the 'SOS' campaign is certainly being helped with celebrity endorsements from the likes of Hollywood A-lister Julia Roberts, the Dalai Lama, the former Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu and even Charles, Prince of Wales.

EostaCEO Volkert Engelsman

Aside from the celebrity backing, 200 NGOs have also signed up to support the campaign which is all about trying to save millions of hectares of threatened land and keep soil healthy.

Eosta says reaching out to shoppers in the aisles is key as every consumer can contribute to saving fertile soil by choosing sustainable and organic produce.

That's why small sticker logos have been going on millions of Eosta's organics in European markets informing consumers that this particular fruit or vegetable is part of the campaign and by purchasing it, they are making a direct contribution to the cause.

Eosta, operating under its brand name Nature & More, together with its partners, has established a fund that will support farmers across the globe in saving fertile soil.

"We think it's time that soil fertility comes into people's focus just like climate change and water conservation has done," Engelsman tells www.freshfruitportal.com.

"At the moment globally we are losing 30 soccer fields of fertile soil per minute as a result of intensive agriculture. That's a huge amount and it's high time there was much more awareness out there on the subject.

"The stunning reality is that we are actually killing this very thin layer of fertile top soil and this fact requires a lot of attention because it is an alarming reality."

The 'Save our Soil' fund was only set up in February and already has €200,000 (US$213,000) in the pot and is expected to jump to €500,000 (US$534,000) fairly soon.

"We are not a marketing company but we sell millions of organic products throughout Europe so we thought that if every product would carry a 'Save our Soils' logo and then if we could organize for ambassadors like Desmond Tutu, Dalia Lama, Prince Charles and Julia Roberts to fight for us, then hopefully this will help.

"And this is exactly what we did. We have the logo going out on millions of products and the people mentioned are official 'soil mates' so they support the campaign together with 200 NGOs and many of them will be in attendance at our 'Save Our Soil' conference in Amsterdam in June.

"Our core business is overseas fruits from the Southern Hemisphere or the tropics and Dutch greenhouse crops and you will find this little logo on everything from the consumer packaging to the bulk packaging like the cartons and so on."

Money raised from the fund will go towards helping farmers worldwide in saving soil fertility with the help of organic techniques. Initiatives include composting workshops for farmers, research into best practices and promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange.

Predominantly, the SOS campaign using the labeled fruit and vegetables is running in natural food market stores in German-speaking countries, Benelux and Scandinavia.

"Although this is a European campaign, there is an emphasis on German-speaking countries simply because 40% all of organic food is sold by natural food stores who welcome such campaigns, so that's obviously where the emphasis of our campaign will be.

"Whereas countries like the U.K. where the market is controlled by five big retailers, they would not allow any grower to talk to any customer or allow anybody to run a campaign like this other than themselves."

Engelsman recognizes the challenge of reaching out to so many people, but through a staid and steady campaign, he hopes the message is getting 'out there'.

"Certainly it is very difficult and we do, within our circle of influence, what we can to reach out to consumers but obviously we're not the only ones who want to talk to them and in today's economy where people and the planet are not part of the profit destination, shareholder value has an interest to create anonymity in the market so people don't know what they are buying. So yes, it can be damn difficult to talk to the consumer.

"Through the campaign we are reaching out to the followers of 200 NGOs who support us so that may not be the mainstream, but it will certainly be the people who are considered trendsetters and who have a concern otherwise they would not be members of such organizations like WWF [World Wildlife Fund] or Oxfam Novib and so on.

"And change has never come from a majority, but rather from a trendsetting minority which is precisely what we are trying to target, so through the networks of our 200 partners and the official ambassadors we are trying to reach out to as many people as we can."

Large-scale point of sale promotional material has gone up in retailers with large banners and shelf stoppers attracting consumers to the campaign.

"On the shop floor we have huge point of sale campaigns for the 'I like organic' campaign and the 'like' is a symbol of compost and we have created a fund which we have €200,000 but will soon be €500,000 for the SOS fund. This fund will then be used to help our growers save soil.

"The money raised so far is a great start but we're looking for contributions from other parties. In this way, we can make a sound contribution to improving agricultural practices and supporting a future with more food security."

www.freshfruitportal.com