PASSION FRUIT - A NEW HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN KENYA

The marketing of any new product in Europe faces intense competition from similar established products and a lot of time and money may have to be spent before the products can be considered successfully launched. Passion fruit juice, fortunately, has several advantages. It is obtained from a fresh fruit and requires no chemical additives since the flavour and colour are naturally strong. The flavour is also unique and versatile in its application. The juice can be used on its own, as a cordial drink, as a carbonated drink or as a flavouring for sweets and ice cream. It can also be blended with other fruit drinks to bring out their flavour. This is a very useful way in which to introduce the flavour to the public, since passion fruit juice can be consumed with a juice already familiar to consumers.

The initial advertising and promotion in Europe should obviously be aimed at familiarising the public with the new flavour of passion fruit. However, before a firm considers launching a new product requiring a large advertising campaign, they must be assured of a continuous supply of the new material. Passion fruit production in Kenya has, unfortunately, been liable to large fluctuations in supply and the production problems must obviously be solved before large-scale marketing can take place. In addition to these problems, the technical ones of processing the juice and converting it into a saleable product are also proving to be difficult to solve. Passion fruit juice extraction does not follow the normal pattern of other juice processes. Retaining the full flavour and preventing sedimentation are two of the most difficult problems. Fortunately, a Swiss firm which is leading developments in this field, is mounting a major research programme aimed at solving some of the technical problems related to the processing of passion fruit.