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New Ontario’s tender fruit website launched

May 2, 2012, Vineland Station, Ont – Growers and marketers of tender fruit in Ontario now have access to new marketing and communications tools, including QR codes and a new online discussion forum for farmers. These tools are part of the newly launched website of the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers Marketing Board, which represents growers of peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, seedless coronation grapes and chilled and pitted cherries.

“We are excited to offer our growers and marketers new ways to promote and sell the great tender fruit we grow here in Ontario,” says Phil Tregunno, a farmer and the organization’s chair. “Consumers are increasingly looking for information about where their food comes from and our website offers resources to help do that.”

A QR (Quick Response) code is a type of bar code that can be read by a smart phone or tablet device and direct users to specific information. The site offers various QR codes that can be requested for download from Ontario Tender Fruit for inclusion on tender fruit packaging and marketing materials. Recipes, an image library and in-store promotional materials are also available.

For tender fruit farmers, the site offers a password protected grower-only section that provides pricing information and other market information, as well as key industry contacts and a new online discussion forum.

The consumer section of the site features a wide array of recipes for all the tender fruit crops as well as nutritional, storage and handling and production information. It is also mobile phone friendly and automatically switches to a streamlined version of the site for users accessing the information on a smart phone device.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for consumers to access information about tender fruit, whether that’s at the grocery store or on their smart phone device while they’re on the go,” says board manager Sarah Marshall. “With the many different recipes as well as information on where fruit is available, it’s never been this easy to buy and enjoy local.”

The site is available at www.ontariotenderfruit.ca.