German campaign for aubergines responds to home cooking trend

Home cooking trend

Andreas Müller, Account Manager at Rijk Zwaan Welver, explains the reason behind the campaign: “Aubergines are a niche product in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We would like to create more demand for this versatile vegetable to support our chain partners. During the lockdown, we saw that consumers were interested in trying out new recipes and experimenting with different looks, flavours and preparation methods. We want to respond to that home cooking trend. A lot of consumers are not entirely sure how to prepare aubergines, however, so this campaign educates and inspires them.”

Surprising recipes as inspiration

The campaign includes three informative videos in which a chef makes dishes featuring aubergines and explains the best way for home cooks to prepare them. Annelies Blaauwkamer from Love My Salad, Rijk Zwaan’s consumer platform, comments: “Many consumers think that they first have to sprinkle aubergines with salt to draw out the moisture, but that’s not the case. These videos show just how delicious aubergines are when prepared properly, and that it doesn’t have to be difficult. Besides that, we’re inspiring consumers with surprising recipes and answering questions about the taste, colour and texture of aubergines.”

Love My Salad is sharing the videos, recipes and questions on its German website, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest channels over the course of four weeks. There are also plans for a recipe booklet. Blaauwkamer: “We ran a similar campaign in the Netherlands last year in conjunction with aubergine growers from the A8 cooperative, and it generated a lot of extra attention for aubergines.”

In partnership with food bloggers

According to Annelies Blaauwkamer, it’s extremely important to work in partnership with food bloggers in a campaign like this: “They each have their own group of followers, so we reach a lot more consumers by working together. We offer the bloggers high-quality food products and information about where they’ve come from, and they appreciate that. A recipe by one of the food bloggers demonstrates the suitability of aubergines for Asian cuisine, for example. We shared that recipe with our followers on 14 July.”

Stronger Together

Rijk Zwaan is focused on supporting growers and partners in their efforts to produce, distribute and/or process fresh fruit and vegetables. Based on the very latest market insights, we are keen to help the fresh produce chain to adapt to the ‘new economy’ by offering tailor-made, relevant and applicable advice and solutions. Keen to know more? Take a look at this article about the future expectations. www.rijkzwaan.com/stronger-together 

Read more about the German campaign on Love My Salad. 

Watch the chef in this video to see how easy it is to prepare a caponata.