You never know where a good idea can come from, and Benjamin Laimer, boasting extensive experience as marketing manager for Consorzio melicolo VIP, knows this very well. Having recently travelled to Japan for leisure, he did not fail to bring back some very interesting suggestions.
"What is noticeable in Japanese society is the combination of ultimate innovation with traditional values that go back centuries. I was struck by their philosophy of the here and now, the ability to capture the essence of each moment and live it to the fullest. As far as fruit is concerned, the level of care and attention to detail that leads some growers to specialise in products such as melons, whose individual fruits reach market prices unimaginable anywhere else in the world, is extraordinary."
The experience confirmed Benjamin's convictions: "For years, I have been of the opinion that we have to take our apple products to another level. From a commodity, apples can be made into something valuable, taking them to a sensory level where consuming a fruit becomes engaging and identity-driven. Apples are a product that is seemingly banal, but they are actually rich in facets: by starting from small things, a much greater emotion and perceived value can be returned to consumers. But, if we want to achieve this, we must guarantee a consistently high quality and intrinsic value of the fruits. That is why we have introduced several club varieties into our assortment, which have enabled us to interact with consumers to our great satisfaction. Today, we start with the product, but end with its positioning: we want to convey to young consumers the feeling of belonging to a community that identifies with a given product, apples that are also able to create a lifestyle."
Benjmin Laimer together with the general manager of the VIP consortium, Martin Pinzger.
Looking a little bit at the history of apple cultivation, there is no doubt that Pink Lady led the way. "Just as Japanese growers take care of every single plant to obtain distinctive fruits, we too realised that, either you can stand out in every campaign, or there is no point in creating anything when it comes to communication. We have focused on two fronts: showing that South Tyrolean apple cultivation has taken the world of wine as a model, and the ability to offer consumers an experience in which they can recognise themselves. I believe that, today, we can and must work with the assortment that we have built up over the last few years. It would not make sense to expand it further, as doing so would dilute the intrinsic value of the apples already available on the market."
For more information:
www.vip.coop