Aug 6 2008

California Tree Fruit Agreement and California Avocado Commission are Founding Members

Irvine, Calif. (August 6, 2008) – California is carving out a prominent place in the Mediterranean…the Mediterranean Diet, that is. Two prominent California fruit marketing organizations, the California Avocado Commission (CAC) and the California Tree Fruit Agreement (CTFA), have signed to be among the 16 founding members of the Mediterranean Foods Alliance, whose mission is “to bring the healthy pleasures of Mediterranean Diet into more homes, schools, restaurants – in short, all places Americans eat.”

The Mediterranean Foods Alliance has launched a new consumer education campaign featuring the “From Your Cart to Your Kitchen” retailer tool kit The tool kit’s CD-ROM includes ideas for cooking demonstrations and food sampling events, templates for newsletters and activities, Mediterranean Diet shopping lists and recipe cards, and is supplemented by a colorful consumer brochure filled with tips on how to stock the ultimate Mediterranean pantry while shopping, a Mediterranean Diet poster, a guide for retailers and the Med Mark logo – a packaging symbol that helps consumers quickly identify “Med Diet” foods at store level.

“Promotion of the Mediterranean Diet by retailers can be a very smart move to encourage sales of tree fruit and overall sales of fruits and vegetables, especially in this tough economy,” said Sheri Mierau, president of CTFA. “The concept of combining healthy eating and savoring traditional foods at home strikes a chord with today’s shoppers.”

The Mediterranean Diet was created in the 1990’s as a response to the predominant “low-fat” diets of the time, by scientists and health professionals whose research indicated that certain traditional Mediterranean eating patterns were connected with lifelong good health. They developed the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid as an eating plan recommendation. The plan encourages daily consumption of foods from plant sources including fruits such as avocados, peaches, plums and nectarines, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and seeds along with olive oil as the primary source of fat. The Mediterranean diet also encourages eating low to moderate amounts of cheese and yogurt daily and fish or poultry weekly, along with a modest amount of wine.

“Consumer education of the benefits of following the Mediterranean Diet can have a direct impact on overall produce department traffic because fundamentally the plan promotes a plant-based diet,” said Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for CAC. “For avocados specifically, the diet also advocates using the fruit as an alternative sandwich spread, which directly encourages increased avocado use.”

Both CTFA and CAC have plans to include the Med Mark in their marketing activities. CAC is working to disseminate information on the role of avocados in the Mediterranean Diet through public relations outreach, and will be using the Med Mark to identify recipes aligned with the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid on CaliforniaAvocado.org. CTFA will be linking their “Summer C™” message with the Mediterranean Diet in future marketing activities. The “Summer C™” program promotes the fact that California peaches, plums, and nectarines are a good source of vitamin C, and this year has included recipe programs and a tie-in promotion with mâche salad.

Oldways, a think tank that creates and organizes a wide variety of programs and materials about healthy eating, drinking, lifestyle and the traditional pleasures of the table, created The Med Mark Mediterranean Alliance non-profit coalition to: 1) advance scientific understandings of the Mediterranean Diet; 2) educate consumers, journalists, health professionals and others about the Mediterranean Diet; and 3) help consumers find and choose Mediterranean foods and drinks with the Med Mark. Retailers interested in obtaining free Mediterranean Diet promotion materials can contact nheverling@oldwayspt.org.

About the California Tree Fruit Agreement
Originally established in 1933 and headquartered in Reedley, California, the California Tree Fruit Agreement is funded by and administers marketing order programs on behalf of California's more than 1,100 fresh peach, plum and nectarine growers.


About the California Avocado Commission
Created in 1978, the California Avocado Commission strives to increase demand for California avocados through advertising, promotion and public relations, and engages in related industry activities that benefit the state's 6,000 avocado growers. The California Avocado Commission serves as the official information source for California avocados and the California avocado industry.