United Kingdom and Spain
June 5, 2025
- The “Apio Lovers” campaign aims to boost demand by sharing recipes and suggestions for fresh consumption.
- This initiative is part of Tozer’s strategic growth plan in Spain, led from its Murcia office.
Tozer, the global leader in celery seed breeding, has joined forces with “5 al día”, the Spanish association promoting fruit and vegetable intake, to launch the Apio Lovers campaign. The initiative encourages greater consumption of celery through a wide range of activities including a dedicated website, social media promotion, tastings, influencer partnerships, and the distribution of informational materials.
Significant growth potential
“Spain has one of the lowest rates of fresh celery consumption in Europe,” says Manuel Hernández, Sales Manager at Tozer. “It’s unfortunate that, despite being one of the leading producers, most of the celery grown here is destined for export. The same used to happen with broccoli. That trend has changed thanks to awareness campaigns, and now we want to do the same for celery,” he explains.
“Celery is still undervalued in Spain, largely due to a lack of information,” says Nuria Martínez Barea, Director of “5 al día”. “We believe that introducing new ways to consume it — for example, as a snack for dipping or in healthy smoothies — is a great way to make it more appealing. There is strong potential for growth in the Spanish market,” she adds.
Consumer-focused varieties
Tozer’s goal is to develop celery varieties that suit different consumption habits, always ensuring top quality and flavour. “We are very focused on consumers. In recent years, we’ve evolved to develop seeds not only based on what growers are asking for, but also considering the preferences of the end consumer,” says Hernández.
“For example, Monterey F1 and Julius F1 are traditional cooking varieties, while Curie, Mendel, and 9524 have been developed for use as snack sticks,” he explains. Providing this variety-specific information to retailers is another goal of the Apio Lovers campaign, so that they can better inform consumers in-store.
Read more here: https://www.tozerseeds.com/apio-lovers/
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