A €1 million project to promote Portugal’s ‘Rocha’ pear was launched last week, with 20 journalists travelling to the country to learn about the national fruit.
“The goal is to showcase the pear’s traits and how it is produced, so that the journalists can write about them back in their countries,” explained Aristides Sécio, the president of the national association of ‘Rocha’ pear producers (ANP).
The first visit, which took place between August 20 and 22, saw journalists travelling from Germany, Poland, the UK, Canada and Brazil. Among them was a representative of Fruitnet, a publisher which owns six fruit-focused magazines.
“We publish magazines for the European, American, Asian, German, Australian and New Zealander markets as well as the Middle East,” André Azevedo from Fruitnet told Lusa, guaranteeing that Fruitnet will plug the “singularity of the fruit and what sets it apart from other European pears”.
Other promotional tours are planned for September, says ANP, and will include new ‘Rocha’ pear importers like Costa Rica and Mexico.
In the meantime, the association is using its EU funds to promote the fruit at supermarkets and beyond as a “national product” unassociated to any particular brand.
