Apple Marketing Part 2

Apple Marketing Part 2. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

U.S. Apples’ Allison Parker recently spent some time visiting with several major magazines to highlight the benefits of apples both from a health and a cooking standpoint. She says that inclusion in these publications gets consumers to ask questions.

PARKER: Often times it goes through the magazine so the consumer will reach back out to the magazine and ask questions and then the editors will reach out to us. We get a lot of emails or phone calls in the fall from different publications, newspapers. Basically your main tips like what variety is best in a pie or different things like that that.

This marketing approach has been very successful for U.S. Apple.

PARKER: We won a media relations award through the National Agri-Marketing Association in coordination with the public relations firm we work with, Harvest PR and it was the New York City tour that we did. We basically sent invitations and told them this was a U-pick apple orchard tour where they get to pick their favorite varieties to try.

Magazines usually work about 6 months out so a spring visit should see fruit in the fall.

PARKER: In the fall we sent each person who was interested a nice little package containing fresh varieties, applesauce, apple butter and some written materials that kind of included the latest news on apples and apple products. So just building relationship with the media so whenever they have a question about apples they know, call U.S. Apple Association.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.