Discounter 99p Stores may become the next contender in the flourishing discount sector after stating it is set to expand its supply base for fresh produce.
The high-street budget retailer said a recent apple promotion, which sold 10,000 packs in 10 days, shows there is “massive demand” from customers for produce.
“Currently we are working with a small group of suppliers with a view to expanding our supplier base,” said chief operating officer, Tony Brown.
“We are finding more and more suppliers are looking to the discount market for next phase of growth outside the normal supermarket channel. Their research shows that discount channel is the fastest growing sector in retail and appeals to all UK customer types.”
Brown said the chain is currently trialling a range of top-selling fresh produce products, and is looking to extend its range of popular products that are in-season as well as all-year favourites.
He added: “We are working on building our fresh chilled business which is growing rapidly and we are finding that all the top brands are happy to be sold in our chillers.”
