Driscoll's plans to grow year-round

Last June 2016, Driscoll’s introduced a new, emotion-driven global brand strategy that included consumer research across North America, Europe, Australia and China. According to their most recent U.S. survey more than 85% of people agree that eating berries make them happy. This consumer insight allowed Driscoll’s to promote berries as an emotional product that directly links to a feeling of happiness and joy.

“During the extensive consumer research we were surprised about the level of emotion that consumers showed while talking about berries. There was such a strong relation to nature, summer and childhood memories, certainly when the quality is right” describes Marieke Appel, Marketing and Communications Manager at EMEA. “We felt this had to be captured by the brand essence."

Driscoll’s new brand design was inspired by the berries themselves as colourful pop icons of the natural world. The brand uses the individual colours and shapes of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Driscoll’s feels there is a huge untapped potential for berries. According to them, in a number of European countries, berries turn out to be even bigger than bananas and oranges in value. Driscoll’s ambition; to position berries as the number one candy in the store, by investing in consumer insights and retail partnership.

How is the company going to achieve this? By focusing on a year-round supply of berries, says Theo Houwen, Senior Vice President – Managing Director, Driscoll’s of EMEA:

“We want to extend and grow, but we always keep in mind that we are capable of delighting consumers 365 days a year. We do this step by step – by growing our own varieties, finding producers that connect with our vision, and then increasing volumes."