FORELLE EARLY MARKET ACCESS (FEMA) PROGRAMME · The better freshness and more shiny appearance...

FORELLE EARLY MARKET ACCESS (FEMA)

PROGRAMME:

A SUCCESS STORY

DR IAN CROUCH

ISO 9001 : 2008 Certified

Bicolour pear continuity in the export market

Established with Rosemarie and Flamingo

Continued with Forelle

The Problem!

Forelle pears grown in South Africa exhibit mealiness if

not subjected to a mandatory cold requirement of 12

weeks prior to sale:

Pressure to harvest as early as possible!

Fruit harvested too early, increased astringency!

12 week delay results in gap in the bicolour pear export market

The Problem!

A need arose for SA Forelle to be available in Europe from

week 15, due to:

South American Forelle establishing a preferred market before the

first SA volumes arrive.

Motivation

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

12.5

kg

eq

uiv

ale

nt

cart

on

s

(Th

ou

san

ds)

Chilean Forelle Exports


week 15, due to:

Increased volumes of South African Forelle

Motivation

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

12.5

kg

eq

uiv

ale

nt

cart

on

s

(Th

ou

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ds)

RSA Forelle Exports


week 15, due to:

Smoothing of Forelle harvesting and marketing peaks

Motivation

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Car

ton

(1

2.5

. kg)

FORELLE FORELLE (FEMA) 2015


week 15, due to:

Break in bi-colour pear continuity

Motivation

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE MARKETING WEEK

6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 21 22 24 26 28 30

Flamingo

Rosemarie

Forelle

GAP


week 15, due to:

Improvement of eating quality

Reduction in astringency

No mealiness

Motivation

1. Extend the sales of Rosemarie and Flamingo

SmartFresh effective in extending storability of Rosemarie and

Flamingo

Limited availability of these cultivars!

2. New cultivars to fill this gap

Cheeky: still low production!

3. Market Forelle earlier

Condition fruit so that no mealiness

The Solution!

Market Forelle Earlier

Tried many different approaches!

Ethylene spiking

Temperature manipulations

Storage regimes

Solution?

New Concept

What about trying to harvest a riper fruit and

then prevent further ripening?

FEMA Programme

The Research – Harvest maturity

Maturity Parameter Harvest 122 February 2007

Harvest 214 March 2007

Starch Breakdown (%) 0.0 0.0

Flesh Firmness (kg) 6.3 5.6

Skin Ground Colour1 1.8 2.7

Red Skin Colour1 7.7 7.5

TSS (%) 14.9 15.4

MA (%) 0.23 0.23

Fruit Size (mm) 60.0 64.2

Rip

er

fru

it

The Research

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Control 1X SmartFresh 2X SmartFresh

Fle

sh

Fir

mn

ess (

kg

)

8 weeks cold storageHarvest 1

Harvest 2

The Research

0

1

2

3

4

5

6


Fle

sh

Fir

mn

ess (

kg

)

8 weeks cold storage + shelf-life

Harvest 1

Harvest 2

The Research

0

10

20

30

40

50


Meali

ness (

%)

8 weeks cold storage + shelf-life

Harvest 1

Harvest 2

The Research - Summary

Control 1X SmartFresh 2x SmartFresh

Later harvested Forelle

Increased soluble sugar content

Reduced flesh firmness

Increased colour progression

Increased fruit size

The Research - Summary

Control 1X SmartFresh 2x SmartFresh

SmartFreshSM effective in maintaining flesh firmnessduring storage, regardless of harvest

Sweet, crisp fruit

No mealiness

A pear that eats like an apple!

New Concept!

• Crisp and sweet

• New marketing strategy

• If softens - risk of mealiness within 12 weeks of

harvest

Fruit allowed to hang on the trees for 2 to 3 weeks after the

normal commercial harvest date

Flesh firmness was aimed at between 6.0 and 5.5 kg and

soluble sugar levels aimed at above 14%

Fruit subjected to SmartFreshSM within 7 days of harvest

Fruit packed with correct PLU

Shipped immediately to offshore markets

Fruit sold immediately on arrival or as required

THE FEMA PROTOCOL

Orchard selection and assessment of semi-commercial trials

Five shipping containers sent to France, Germany and the UK

FEMA Programme – Humble beginnings 2011

1. To reduce the mandatory 12 week cold storage period

2. Earlier availability of SA Forelle pears in Europe

• Acceptable eating quality fruit after only 4 to 6 weeks cold storage

3. To get market feedback from UK/EU markets

• Consumer taste panel set up in UK (Wirral) and Hamburg

(Eurofins) to assess fruit sensory quality

Fruit not subjected to SmartFreshSM experienced high

levels of mealiness during the shelf life ripening period.

South African Holdback Samples

0

20

40

60

80

100

Langkloof Ceres Grabouw Vliiersdorp

Mealin

ess (

%)

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

Forelle Pear

= Close to 'Just Right'

Sourness Far too sour

Crispness Far too crisp

Juiciness Far too juicy

Sweetness Nowhere near sweet enough

Far too sweet

Nowhere near sour enough

Nowhere near crisp enough

Nowhere near juicy enough

Sensory EvaluationsUnited Kingdom

Sensory EvaluationsHamburg Germany

Average = 6.4

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

like very much category

Like category

Neutral category

Dislike category

Market Strategy

Different markets = different preferences!

versus

To co-ordinate orchard selection and quality assessment of

commercial export of FEMA Programme:

OBJECTIVES FOR ROLE-OUT PHASE 2012

1. Select and release orchards in collaboration with Hortec™

2. To collect representative packed export samples from each

orchard

• Packing maturity

• Astringency

• Quality after 4 to 6 weeks cold storage

3. To get market feedback from Middle East/UK markets on

eating experience of early SA Forelle pears

Forelle Producers Association (FPA) allowed quota of 10%

of export volume

± 300 000 boxes

± 200 Shipping containers

Destinations Included:

EU / Continent

UK

Middle East (Dubai)

Far East (Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore)

USA and Canada

FEMA Programme Role-out 2012

Met with Kibsons International

Kibsons International's core business is the import of fresh

fruits and vegetables, from almost all continents across the

globe, and supplying these to major supermarkets and hotels

throughout the UAE.

Distributed ± 20 000 boxes FEMA fruit (12 Containers)

Good feedback – no complaints

Consumers prefer crisp, sweet pears

(outside temps can reach 50°C)

Increased volumes in future

Market Feedback

Middle East - Dubai

Market Feedback

Far East

HUPCO PTE. LTD.: Daniel Tay

• Lim Liat Boon

Singapore

Malaysia

D’FRESH SDN BHD.

David and Andrew Tay

Swee Aik and Debbie Koay

• Very happy with FEMA Programme

• Prefer early shipments to start bicolour season

• Do not want “normal” Forelle that will ripen

• Only want SmartFreshSM Forelle at end of FEMA!

• Want all pears to be “Sweet and Crisp”

• Must distinguish between Forelle and Vermont Beaut

Singapore and Malaysia

Comments

Contact with:

Chingford Fruit (Crayford)

Worldwide Fruit (Spalding)

Mack Multiples (Paddock Wood)

Sainsburys (Dr Theresa Huxley)

Market Feedback

United Kingdom

Contact with:





Market Feedback

United Kingdom

Exceptional eating quality

No issues with loose fruit

Some complaints from bagged fruit – too firm!

Correct labelling and target markets

Overall very happy with programme and would like to see it

continued and increased depending on demand

A Crisp and Crunchy Pear

Contact with:





Market Feedback

United Kingdom

Suppliers of Marks & Spencer and Waitrose

Normally market their Forelle as best eaten firm

End box labelling

2011 high number complaints regarding astringency

No complaints from 2012 FEMA Programme

Can grow FEMA Programme

Contact with:





Market Feedback

United Kingdom

Suppliers of Sainsbury’s

Exceptional eating quality


Contact with:




Sainsbury's (Dr Theresa Huxley)

Market Feedback

United Kingdom

Product Technologist for Sainsbury’s

Less astringency, improved sweetness and taste

Minimal complaints from FEMA programme

Biggest concern is the transition from FEMA fruit to standard

Forelle


Market Feedback

The Netherlands

Based on the condition and quality of the fruit upon arrival,

we can clearly state that the treatment with SmartFreshSM

was absolutely no problem and even a success.

The better freshness and more shiny appearance definitely

helped to create a good market with the right prices.

Not only the better quality, but also the earlier arrival

helped create more blushed pear programme into the

major European retailers without the normal gap of arrivals

between Rosemarie and Forelle.

Market Feedback

Del Monte Germany

Overall quality on arrival was good.

There was absolutely no waste.

Texture and firmness were very good

Appearance was very fresh

Taste was sweet, rich and moderately juicy

Positive customer reaction – no claims!.

Market Feedback

Cobana Fruchtring Germany .

Objective was to benefit from lack of

availability of blushed pears since March.

Worked very well commercially, the containers arrived in

an empty market and we could achieve good sales prices.

Even Chilean shipments with Forelle reached Europe only

2 to 3 weeks later!

A further advantage could be that total Forelle volume out

of RSA would be stretched over a longer period and thus

peaks of arrival could be avoided that create pressure on

the markets

Market Feedback

China

Forelle received under SmartFreshSM

FEMA Programme very well received.

Fruit had attractive blush colour and a creamy sweet

flavour once ripened.

Customers very happy with the pears and we look forward

to further arrivals in coming years.

Challenges of FEMA Programme

Selection of best orchards and convincing producers to

wait until correct harvest maturity for optimal eating quality

Participants of Programme exporting fruit NOT from

selected and/or released orchards

Producers putting too many orchards into the Programme

resulting in unselected orchards having advanced fruit

maturity

Increased risk of internal problems with long

term storage

Better in-store promotions (UK) – more visible


Better in-store promotions (UK) – more visible


PLU labelling: Several issues were addressed:

FEMA label vs Supermarket label

USA: require Country of origin + barcode

Canada: require English + French

Visible labelling on fruit, bags, punnets and box ends!


PLU labelling: Current status:

PLU’s are not compulsory anymore, but all are

encouraged to still use the “Crisp & Sweet” PLU.

This is particularly true in the UK where all loose-

packed fruit would benefit from stickers.


Switchover between FEMA and normal untreated Forelle

Crisp and Sweet versus Soft and juicy / mealy

Perception that yellower fruit will ripen and not have

sufficient shelf-life

To get producers to stick to the correct protocols and not

compromise the programme by picking earlier

Green astringent fruit

Benefits of FEMA Programme

Advantage of a longer picking window

No pressure to harvest early for normal protocol Forelle

Larger fruit size

Less astringency

Better taste (compared to early S. American Forelle)

Bicolour pear continuity

Preferred supplier of good tasting Forelle

Smoothing of marketing peaks

Benefits of FEMA Programme

No mealiness

Storage flexibility

FEMA fruit can stored under RA or CA storage for 16 weeks

should the market demand be flat

Increased profitability

R20.00 per box

FEMA Programme Current status

Rapid growth of Programme since 2011


0

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

12

.5 k

g e

qu

iva

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ou

san

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RSA FEMA Forelle Exports

± 1,5 Million



± 40 % of export Forelle

Good balance between FEMA volumes and standard

Forelle

Dispensation still required

Good communication to participants





Forelle



Programme still closely monitored





Forelle




Continued R&D




Forelle




Continued R&D


Thank You

FORELLE EARLY MARKET ACCESS (FEMA) PROGRAMME · The better freshness and more shiny appearance...

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