The 5 A DAY cause has been an important one for the fresh produce industry since the campaign started up, with the aim to increase awareness about the health benefits of eating the five recommended portions of fruit and vegetables a day and boosting overall consumption.
BerryWorld has taken this on board better than many fresh produce businesses and is eager to support the message, winning the Re:fresh 5 A DAY Supporter of the Year award last May for its first foray into ready-to-eat snack packs of blueberries, branded as Snackerries.
The supplier, part of the Poupart Group, is a major player in the soft-fruit market, representing around 20 per cent of berry supplies to UK multiples and selling more than 25,000 tonnes of soft fruit each year, with an annual turnover in excess of £100 million. The Hertfordshire-based company represents growers covering more than 2,500 acres of soft-fruit production in the UK and other countries in Europe, as well as North and South America, the Middle East and South Africa. A global sourcing strategy ensures year-round supply and enables the soft-fruit heavyweight to offer the widest selection of berries and currants available.
BerryWorld has made the most of the soft-fruit category as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the fresh produce industry. The team constantly monitors the soft-fruit market for opportunities and spotted a considerable gap in the snacking sector. The idea of packing blueberries in a snack format had long appealed to the firm and it took just nine months for the concept to reach the shelves.
Snackerries have been a popular line in supermarkets since they came onto the market at the beginning of last year. The washed and ready-to-eat fruit is presented in an 80g-portion pack, equal to one adult serving of the recommended 5 A DAY. The innovative fruit packs represent a move away from the standard blueberry pack sizes of 150g, moving up to 300g at the peak of supply, to smaller snack packs that are more convenient and so make it easier for consumers to reach their 5 A DAY target.
This first initiative will eventually be followed by the introduction of other lines under the brand, all presented in the same way.
Adam Olins, managing director of BerryWorld, says the idea took shape quickly as part of a mission to expand the market for blueberries and to introduce the fruit to new target customers. “The concept came out of the fact that we are the biggest supplier of blueberries to the UK and this is how we thought the market would develop,” he explains. “We wanted to find a way of pulling new customers into the blueberry category, so we washed the fruit and put it in smaller packs to make a convenient and healthy snack.
“At the beginning, everyone was interested and we were a bit too ambitious, as the volumes that we had were too small. We are completely happy with Snackerries where they are now. We have a solid customer base and sales have grown in accordance with the blueberry market. Our figures show that both young families and adults on their way to work or at lunch have bought into the brand.
“It is our longer-term intention to launch other snack packs or berry-mix packs.”
The blueberries in the distinctive packs are sourced from across the world, including Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Spain, France and Poland, as well as smaller volumes from the UK, to guarantee consistent supply.
The brand is now stocked in the top two UK retailers, Tesco and Asda. A Snackerries website has been launched to support sales and will eventually act as a platform to share information, post recipe ideas and interact with the public.
The launch of Snackerries is not the first time that BerryWorld has attempted to support the 5 A DAY message and promote a healthy lifestyle. The aim to make reaching the recommended number of portions easier has built on BerryWorld’s long-standing support of a fitness initiative that encourages schoolchildren to exercise and highlights the importance of a healthy diet.
The Skip2BFit scheme, which has more than 160,000 participants, aims to encourage children to get more exercise and gives each child an 80g carton of blueberries as a reward for taking part.
BerryWorld and its blueberry supplier Winterwood sponsor the scheme, providing blueberries for every child. The project allows children to try blueberries, shows them that berries can make for a lunchbox treat and teaches them about the importance of eating fruit as part of a healthy diet.
“Skip2BFit is a fantastic way of educating young people about keeping fit and raising awareness of healthy eating at an early age,” says Olins. “By providing blueberries, we not only encourage children to taste a fruit that might be new to them, but also educate both the children and their parents about the benefits of healthy eating. We also hope to encourage parents to start including the fruit in lunchboxes.”
But the promotion of 5 A DAY is far from the only thing that BerryWorld has planned for this year. The supplier is to focus on promoting its two latest additions to the strawberry market, with its two exclusive UK-grown ever-bearer strawberry varieties Sweet Eve and Eve’s Delight. The premium varieties were bred by Peter Vinson from the Edward Vinson Breeding Programme, based in Faversham. They will extend the ever-bearer season, with their availability stretching from early May through to the end of October. They both proved popular in comparative taste panels, scoring highly for flavour, appearance and yield.
“These two industry-changing varieties will enable BerryWorld to provide consistent and top-quality strawberries on the shelves for consumers, as well as create a longer season from the same plant for the producers,” said Tim Newton, BerryWorld technical director, at the time of the launch. “It is an exciting development for both BerryWorld growers and our customers.
“We set ourselves the target of producing excellent-quality strawberries that produce yields enabling us to offer competitive product, and both these varieties achieve that objective.”
But no amount of new projects will detract from the fact that this year is set to be a difficult one for soft-fruit players. The main challenge for the berry sector in 2009 will be the volatility of the exchange rate. Olins says the fluctuations are proving “very difficult” for importers, with the euro alone shifting five to six per cent in a matter of days. “The only good thing is that it affects everyone in the same way,” he admits. “A lot will depend on how the UK market as a whole compares with alternative markets and whether suppliers take a short-, medium- or long-term view.
“Three or four years back, growers and exporters actively wanted to start supplying the UK, but we still have long-term relationships with our growers and suppliers and they are still where they want to be.”
The main aim in these cost-conscious times will be to continue to promote berries as a healthy and tasty fruit that can be sourced locally or regionally in season, at the right price.
“However difficult it has been importing in the winter, this should benefit UK growers in the summer and there could be less pressure on them,” Olins predicts. “The overall health issue is very high on everyone’s agenda, even in the economic crisis, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
No comments yet