Cultivar Branding: A Game Changer For Growers

Fresh produce branding is gaining momentum as farmers seek to ensure a market for their fruit in an industry where supply is dramatically increasing. The success of the ClemenGold mandarin brand has spearheaded the marketing of specific premium citrus varieties. Lindi Botha reports.

- Lindi Botha

Differentiating one product from the next in a flooded fresh fruit market is the way to ensure long-term sustainability. But in the early 2000s, branding and marketing a specific fruit cultivar seemed far fetched in a market dominated by the humble naartjie.

It was then that Citrogold, a company in the ANB Investments group involved with identifying, evaulating, developing and commercialising new citrus cultivars, procured the South Africa cultivar rights for the Moroccan-developed Nadorcott mandarin. But they had a tough time trying to get farmers to buy into the concept of a closed cultivar mandarin that would be marketed independently.

Abs van Rooyen, CEO of ANB Investments, the holding company for ClemenGold and a former director of Citro gold, worked particularly hard to convince them. With a nursery full of trees ready to be planted and no one buying into the idea, he resolved to establish his own Nadorcott orchards and prove the quality of the cultivar. His persistence paid off: today, in addition to his own ClemenGold producing farms, there are more than 100 growers producing these mandarins, several for the ClemenGold brand. There is also a lengthy waiting list of farmers wanting to be part of the story.

BRANDING OF CULTIVARS

The concept of citrus cultivar branding is gaining momentum. Recently, Outspan launched its Outspan Gem brand to compete in this segment of the market.

Marius du Plessis, CEO of ClemenGold, stresses that consistent application of quality standards is crucial to success.

“Factors such as colour, flavour, taste, acidity, sugar and seed levels must always be within a certain range. A brand should give the consumer the assurance that their eating experience is the same every time,” he says.