Goulburn Valley is trying to encourage Australians to eat more fruit by releasing a new range of sliced and packaged apples.
Launched in Sydney on 18 February with the help of the Irwin family, Goulburn Valley’s Fresh product includes ‘freshly sliced Victorian-grown apples in convenient ready-to-go packaging.”
The launch follows a survey of 1,511 families which found that almost 50 percent of 18-44 year olds report eating less than one serve of fruit a day, while 46 percent of families (with mainly preschool or primary school aged kids) report eating less than one serve of fruit a day.
SPC Ardmona (owners of Goulburn Valley) marketing and innovation director, Nicki Anderson, said Goulburn Valley Fresh aims to replace lollies and chips as a healthier snack food alternative.
“We want Goulburn Valley Fresh to be the healthy alternative to a bar of chocolate during your afternoon break or putting a bag of chips into your child’s lunch box. It’s all about convenience and ensuring a healthy option is now available for Australians to choose.”
The product contains additives calcium ascorbate and calcium chloride, and is sold in a recyclable plastic bag.
According to nutritionist Susie Burrell the value-adding of the humble apple is yet another sign of how time-poor Australians are.
"The two additives are simply to stop the fruit going brown and to keep the apple crunchy they are pretty basic additives and not linked to allergic reactions,'' she told news.com.au.
“While having the apple chopped already will potentially lose some of the active compounds, such as antioxidants, for young children and boys who are less likely to eat fruit unless it is chopped up for them, this is a reasonable way to boost their intake of fresh fruit especially at school when squashed fruit is common.''