ORANGE COUNTY, CA – 2017 was just golden for Zespri, with its newly launched SunGold Kiwifruit tearing up the kiwifruit category. Customized programs, regional market development managers, and strong consumer and retail marketing campaigns all lent a hand in helping the Golden kiwifruit drive category dollar sales up by 124 percent during their 52-week run. Representing 80 percent of the Golden kiwifruit category, Zespri’s SunGold Kiwifruit established a new sales record with 27.8 million pounds sold.

“As our 2017 season comes to an end, we are looking forward to 2018,” said Ben Hughes, General Manager, Americas, in a press release. “Zespri is already working with retailers to set-up exciting programs for the 2018 season as New Zealand shipments begin arriving in May. We have plans to target 50 percent growth for the coming year and extend the season through Zespri-grown Italian fruit so consumers can begin to enjoy Zespri SunGold through winter.”

All Zespri kiwifruit is grown for taste in order to deliver a top quality kiwifruit to retailers and consumers.

“Consumers have embraced and celebrated the SunGold with us,” Sarah Deaton, North American Marketing Manager, said. “Consumer response to the new SunGold has been overwhelmingly positive with brand awareness increasing by seven percent in one season.”

To help promote SunGold Kiwifruit, retailers were able to order point-of-purchase displays and other merchandising material that featured the “Celebrate the SunGold” graphics from the consumer campaign. The campaign targeted specific markets with billboard advertising, and social and digital components designed to convey joy, optimism, and excitement to consumers by leveraging SunGold as a moment of celebration with the season arrival.

Zespri also launched regional display contests to promote and encourage the SunGold, and the exporter found that the larger displays drove sales due to the greater in-store visibility.

“Our retail display contest resulted in a 400 percent increase in sales during the promotional period,” continued Deaton. “The results were remarkable. We plan to expand the contest during our 2018 season.”

With big plans on the horizon, Zespri encourages retailers to contact its regional market development managers to tap into the gold—Golden kiwifruit, that is.

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