12/12/05 Pear promotions in Mexico, Part One

Pear promotions in Mexico. I'm Andy Patrick. U.S.A. Pears is shifting gears slightly during this promotion year. Details are coming up on today's "Northwest Fruit Grower Report". U.S.A. Pears is now into its third month of the 2005  2006 pear promotion season for Mexico, by far its biggest international market. There were concerns about pear exports to Mexico this past season, as it had the largest decline in exports among foreign markets, due mostly to a slow economy and depreciating exchange rate in the first part of the 2004  2005 marketing year. So the marketing arm of U.S.A. Pears has been trying out some new and improved ideas for this season. U.S.A. Pears' Jeff Correia says one example is one promotion that started its journey in September& a joint effort among produce groups, called the Fresh Fruit Road Show. CORREIA: The idea is to have a decorated trailer that we've driven around Mexico City and other outlying cities for three to four months, to help create a buzz, an excitement about U.S. fresh fruit. And that includes stops in U.S. based retailers in Mexico such as Wal-Mart and Costco, as well as Mexican chains. CORREIA: The Pear Bureau also plans to utilize the Road Show as the focus point activity, and synchronize in store promotions, p.r. events, have nutritionists speakers, and chefs giving cooking demonstrations at the Road Show in order to generate greater consumer awareness and familiarity of U.S.A. Pears. Our series on the pear marketing plan in continues with a look at expansion of the ripe program, and new commercials and retail materials. All of that is coming up in future programs.