Smartphones are helping shoppers make decisions about what fresh produce to buy at the supermarket and citrus growers in particular are applauding the technology.

David Ingoe, of Gisborne, Chairman of the New Zealand Citrus Growers Incorporated orange and tangelo product group says the month-long promotion of citrus fruit by Countdown was so successful he wants the supermarket to do it again.

As well as in-store promotions, barcodes on fruit packs provided a smart phone link to the supermarket website where photos of growers, information about the health and nutritional benefits of citrus, plus recipes, was available.

'We are over the moon about how successful it was and we'd like Countdown to do it again. We have mid-season naval organises coming on now and late season naval oranges to follow.

'New Zealanders need to be able to buy local product and we firmly believe that we grow the best naval oranges in the world here in Gisborne.”

Ben Bartlett, Countdown's fruit Category Manager says citrus sales were up and the smartphone idea was well received by consumers.

'By providing information regarding growers of each product within the range we are able to communicate to and make a connection with the customer. This provides important product origin information which our customers can identify with and as a result purchase with confidence.”

Ben says an important aim of citrus month was to educate customers about the range of New Zealand citrus available and also Countdown's commitment to providing supply.

'Countdown is keen to promote New Zealand product when available. Citrus is a strong category and it is important that we are also supporting domestic growers when new season product is available.

'Moving forward we will certainly be looking to repeat such programmes. We are certainly looking to continue promoting fresh New Zealand produce when we can. We are working closely with industry bodies to ensure that we are more in touch with local growers in order to continue providing a great range to our customers.”