Two of the UK’s largest and best-known veg box suppliers have unveiled new marketing campaigns targeting ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and imported and out-of-season fresh produce.
According to the Fresh Produce Journal, Abel & Cole have launched a new autumn billboard campaign which ‘uses traditional field photography of organic veg to promote naturalness and position the box as a counter to ultra processed foods (UPFs). A complementary radio advert is a play on how organic food has nothing to hide, except the “occasional” ladybird.’
Abel & Cole’s Head of Marketing, Georgina Holland, explained, “Health is a top concern for UK shoppers, with search interest in ‘UPF’ growing 30x in the last five years. We know that shoppers care deeply about what they put into their bodies – but convenience culture has disconnected us from real food. We hope that this campaign inspires a reconnection to food grown as nature intended.”
Meanwhile, rival supplier Riverford has launched a high-profile campaign criticising the use of imported and out-of-season fresh produce, including a social media video with characters ‘dressed as vegetables, including an onion and tomato, can be seen on a flight to the UK, where they are met by taxi pick-ups holding signs for the various supermarkets.’
According to a poll by the company, which also imports produce but which does not use air freight, half of the people questioned felt ‘frustrated’ and ‘angry’ when they see imported fresh produce on supermarket shelves during the height of the British season (47 and 49 per cent respectively).
Luke King, Riverford’s supply chain and technical director, explained, “This isn’t about saying ‘no’ to imports as they’re essential when crops are out of season in the UK. However, importing the same product while British farms are at their most abundant undermines our UK growers, increases unnecessary food miles, and denies shoppers the chance to eat fresher, seasonal food. It can also be misleading when the same product is put on the shelf from multiple countries, including the UK.
“The public wants to support British farmers and the easiest time to do that is during our peak British growing seasons and harvest. Supermarkets should make it easy for them and for example, not import green beans from Kenya, when they’re in season here in the UK.”
In a recent interview, Riverford founder Guy Singh-Watson who sold the company to its employees for £10 million in 2023, described his father’s family as “wealthy twats and racists” and described protests against the government’s proposed changes to inheritance tax relief as “emotive tosh” saying farmers could “sell a field” to pay any tax due.
