Apples are enjoying a resurgence in popularity on the UK market, pulling ahead of overall supermarket sales levels and notching up price inflation for the first time in three years.
Figures from AC Nielsen show that apple sales grew by over 10 per cent in the year to March 24, to be worth £610 million. “Total supermarket sales are growing at seven per cent year on year, so the growth we are seeing in apples is ahead of market levels,” said Simon Cox, senior business development manager at AC Nielsen, which has just started to offer scanning-based market development analysis for the fresh produce market. “Last year, sales were flat overall, with standard variants in decline and only organic apples showing any signs of growth. But this year, both organic (+10 per cent) and standard lines (+11 per cent) are performing well.”
Emphasis on healthy eating and the market’s desire for convenience are both in favour of the apple market. “With consumers looking to increase their fresh produce consumption, apples are such an easy place to start,” said Steve Maxwell of Worldwide Fruit. “They are utterly ubiquitous and portable and therefore are an easy introduction to eating more fresh produce. Apples are so well liked, penetration is through the roof.”
And looking at market panel data available from TNS, figures for the first four weeks of 2007 show that a 10 per cent increase in value has been achieved against a four per cent decline in volume. “This means that no one is pushing through volume on cheap promotion and at last we are seeing some price inflation on apples that is really welcome,” said Maxwell.
The 2006-07 northern-hemisphere season has been carried out against a background of reduced supply from Europe that has also forced the UK to pay higher prices for fruit, reflecting its demanding technical specifications.
Other factors at play have been the relaxation of supermarkets’ price wars in the fresh produce aisles. Tesco reportedly brought relief to the market towards the end of last year, a buyer at another supermarket said, when it stopped applying downward pressure on prices, allowing other retailers to push prices up.
In particular, Granny Smith is enjoying a revival, with growth of 13 per cent year on year, and Cox has benefited from a 20 per cent uplift year on year, with sales up £7m to a strong £43m in March.
“Granny Smith has a very loyal following,” explained Martin Dunnett of importer Capespan UK. “There is less discounting of Granny Smith too. Whereas three or four years ago, retailers were all piling into Pink Lady, Royal Gala and Chinese Fuji, while Granny Smith was traded as a discounted apple, people have realised that this does not need to be the case and the variety has a dedicated consumer base.”
Dunnett also pointed out that Granny Smith volume from South Africa is growing steadily year on year, with 1.4m cartons exported in 2005, 1.5m in 2006 and 1.5m or more forecast for this year.
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