By Ibiapaba Netto, executive-director of CitrusBR
Leader in its category, OJ transforms people’s lives, from producers to consumers.
After debating internally at CitrusBR about the best approach to inform the general public about the values contained in the orange juice value chain, we realized it would be crucial to listen to those who are really in charge of this business. His Excellency, the consumer, is who. We went back two years and analysed data from the most relevant social networks utilizing an state-of-the-art social media monitoring system. We found 3,280,000 mentions of our product – orange juice – in English. Among the various findings, two stood out.
The first one showed that 93% of the mentions refer to the consumer’s relationship with the drink and his or her lifestyle. From the celebrated breakfast, an occasion for consumption in which orange juice has its place secured, to sophisticated strategies to cure hangovers, the universe in which consumers relate to this fantastic drink is vast.
The second aspect that drew our attention was that a relevant part of the mentions referred to day-to-day choices. Juice with pulp or without pulp? Orange juice goes well with pancakes or eggs? Mixed with other fruits or not? The options are endless.
We noticed that the expression “a good choice” appeared frequently in comments and posts in thousands of interactions. Based on this “finding,” we chose our new communication campaign slogan, also inspired by a concept that our consumer understands, believes, and shares.
If, on one hand, the consumer is aware that orange juice is a good choice for several reasons, from taste to health, on the other hand, we know that there are other several reasons to strengthen this choice even further. The first step towards disseminating this message is to share information within our industry, reach bottlers and retailers, and everyone interested in accessing verified information from reliable sources that add value to our business.
The orange juice value chain is one of the main activities of Brazilian agribusiness. It is the seventh largest agro-industrial complex. Behind the 1 billion harvested oranges annually, there are 200,000 direct and indirect jobs. In recent years, citrus has been one of the leading employers in a challenging context of a country that struggles to overcome the crisis imposed by Covid-19. In 2020, the sector generated more than 40,000 vacancies in 347 municipalities. More than job, it offers quality jobs for many reasons. In 2020, the Governor of the state of São Paulo, João Doria, acknowledged this in a post on his social networks, once more recognising the relevance of the sector.
The orange juice chain also has great relevance when the topic is environmental sustainability. Citriculture produces and preserves. The sector preserves 1 hectare of native vegetation for every 2.52 hectares of productive area. Likewise, the area occupied by citrus has been decreasing year by year, with a greater density of orchards, which allows us to deliver more using less land. All thanks to new techniques that enable a more efficient and sustainable management of the orchards.
It is very clear that all these contributions need to cross the ocean and reach our clients, and everyone interested in the Brazilian Orange Juice. Considering the current world’s scenario, in which social isolation is still a reality, we decided that social media is the best channel to share our history, a sustainable one. Sustainability is a mantra that our sector has been following for a long time: what it does and will always do make orange juice an increasingly good choice.