Brits are going crazy for berries but turning away from topfruit, according to sales figures from Asda.
The chain has revealed its 15 best-selling fruit and vegetables for 2017, with strawberries jumping nine places to number three, and blueberries and raspberries new entries at 13 and 14 respectively.
Bananas again topped the list, ahead of cucumbers, while tomatoes dropped seven places to 15 and apples and pears failed to make the ranking altogether. In a boost to the potato sector, baking potatoes rose five places to tenth.
Other notable movers included broccoli, which rose four places to number five, and carrots, which went three places in the other direction, down to seventh.
Berries, cauliflower, mushrooms, limes and figs have all been tipped by Asda to do well in 2018.
“The soft-fruit sector has grown extremely quickly over the last year, driven by incredible growth in berries,” said Ian Harrison, Asda’s technical director for produce. “Whilst staple items such as apples and potatoes are still being eaten, customers are varying their diets a lot more and becoming more experimental, using a wider range of fruit and veg in their repertoire.
“This year, we expect to see berries continuing to rise in popularity, with blueberries tipped to see the biggest uplift, and Asda continuing to introduce new varieties to keep up with consumer demand for sweeter berries. Non-meat alternatives such as cauliflower and butternut squash will also be placed more frequently in customer’s baskets as more of us opt for flexitarian and vegetarian diets, so we could see those on next year’s top 15 list.”
