How do you change perceptions and convince shoppers to pay more for food at a time of economic hardship?

That was the question posed by European fresh produce body Freshfel this week (p1), and there are no easy answers. It’s even more difficult in view of the fact that many poorer consumers consider fruit and veg to be expensive.

The high oil prices have had plenty of publicity but whether consumers make that connection to the rising cost of food is debatable.

Branding is one tangible and increasingly popular solution as a way of taking fruit and veg away from commodity status, and the number of new branded entrants in the last couple of years has been very welcome.

Of course, as Professor David Hughes points out, brands face challenges of their own in being used as a promotional tool by supermarkets that can wipe out much of that premium advantage.

You only need to look at the number of buy-one-get-two-free deals running at the moment for evidence of that, and it is important that fresh produce doesn’t get sucked into that sphere to the extent that some other sectors of grocery have.

Our freshinfo.com poll this week shows almost half of all respondents believe high promotional activity in fresh produce is irresponsible.

Such promotions can also create additional waste, so it’s great to see the Fresh Produce Consortium working with WRAP to provide recipes to help consumers use all the fresh produce they buy.