LONDON: Intensive marketing campaign has led Pakistan’s status as the leading producer and supplier of citrus fruit in the world which has also been emphatically recognised in the Dutch market. This was stated by Islamabad’s envoy to The Netherlands Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry while speaking on the occasion of the second annual exhibition of Pakistani kinnoo organised in Amsterdam this week.According to a media release made available to APP, the Ambassador said the Commercial Wing of the Embassy has been following a consistent strategy to promote Pakistani kinnoo in the Netherlands.He also lauded the support provided by the Pakistan Horticulture Export and Development Company (PHDEC) in promotion of Pakistani mango and kinnoo in the Netherlands.The exhibition was organised primarily as a B2B event and the first session of the event was open exclusively for the trade visitors. The exhibition attracted huge response from the buyers, traders and consumers and more than 400 visitors participated in the event.Besides a large number of trade visitors, the functionaries of the Dutch Government and the members of the diplomatic corps also visited the exhibition.Apart from impressive display of the kinnoo, the slices of the luscious fruit were available for tasting along with the freshly squeezed kinnoo juice. The participants appreciated the sweat and soft-textured fruit from Pakistan. The buyers were especially impressed with the high juice content in the kinnoo, which makes it one of the juiciest mandarins in the world.“We are currently importing large quantities of citrus from across the world and are keenly interested in starting our imports from Pakistan as well. Our first kinnoo shipment from Pakistan is arriving on March 2 and we hope to increase our imports from Pakistan subsequently,” said an exporter Boukakar.Speaking on the occasion, Commercial Counsellor, Muhammad Ashraf, said, “Pakistani Kinnoo is famous for its high juice content, aromatic flavours, luscious taste and a rich source of Vitamin C and minerals.”With a juice yield of 55 percent and containing a nice and delicate aroma, kinnoo is regarded as one of the juiciest mandarins in the world. Kinnoo is produced in natural conditions the orchards are naturally fertilized and the fruit is entirely sun-ripened. A large number of farms are Global G.A.P certified and more than 40 processing facilities are HACCP certified.Ashraf said, “Europe, in general and Netherlands in particular, is an interesting market for our kinnoo. Despite its exotic taste and high juice content, the kinnoo is not regularly available in the Dutch market.”
He further stated that the Commercial Wing, has devised a three-year comprehensive strategy to promote the Kinnoo in the Netherlands. “This is the second year of our strategy. During the first year, we introduced the kinnoo as a “table fruit” mainly targeting the ethnic segment of the market. During the current year, we have positioned our kinnoo as a “juicy mandarin” in the mainstream market.”According to Ashraf, with the support of PHDEC, they have also launched the ‘pull marketing” strategy. On 25th February, we are organising a product launch of kinnoo in Hanos, one of the leading chain stores in Benelux, specialising in institutional/restaurant supplies. Pakistani kinnoo will be available in Hanos from 25th February onwards.Simultaneously, the Commercial Wing is working on the push strategy. In order to push kinnoo in the trade channels, free sampling of kinnoo is being made to the leading distributors of fresh fruits & vegetables so that they can evaluate the product itself.Similarly, in accordance with the strategy of positioning kinnoo as a juicy mandarin, free samples of kinnoos are being presented to the leading juice shops in the city centres of Amsterdam, Den Haag and Rotterdam for evaluation – APP
