The exotics category has continued to generate new interest from consumers over the last quarter, with fresh-cut fruit shown to be the leader of the pack in terms of boosting sales and creating a stir.
Sales of fresh-cut exotic fruit have soared, not just over the last quarter but over the last year or so. One supplier attributes the core growth in his business to the pineapple category, mainly due to the fresh-cut sector and the rise of the MD2 variety. “We have seen tremendous growth in pineapples in the last two years, largely driven by the retailers,” he tells FPJ.
“We looked at the category and saw it was under-valued, and thought we would do something about that. Fresh-cut fruit in particular - for us, pines, melons and mangoes - is really increasing. However, these three are not really classed as exotic anymore - their growth has been enormous because they are more accessible than they used to be.”
A stand-out success story in the fresh-cut exotic category - but also in wholehead - has been pomegranates. One overseas shipper explains: “The British enjoy fresh-cut and peeled mangoes, oranges and apples, and pomegranates are now on the rise too. UK consumers consider the effort in peeling a pomegranate and extracting its arils enormous, so there is great scope for firms that can supply prepped fruit.”
Research about the benefits of exotic fruit and veg has continued to impact on the sector over the last quarter, with the ubiquitous pomegranate flying the flag for the category yet again. Pomegranate juice, which is very high in phytochemicals, with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to have the potential to combat prostate cancer, following a small study following 48 men published in Clinical Cancer Research in the US.
Pomegranates were also shown over the last quarter to offer health benefits for coronary heart disease patients. A study of a small group of people with coronary heart disease found that drinking about one cup (240ml) of pomegranate juice daily helped reduce stress-induced myocardial ischemia - poor blood flow to the heart muscle, brought on by stress or exercise.
Supply-wise, the Israeli pomegranate season is now drawing to a close, with harvesting finished by October, and supplies are now coming on stream from India. Israeli fruit was described as “good, with excellent appearance” by one exporter.
The Israeli fig season, which drew to a close in mid-January, was also deemed “excellent” by one supplier, with high-quality fruit and demand in the UK market strong.
In other fruits, prices of kiwifruit are being pushed up across the UK and Europe, due to short crops in both Italy and Greece. Meanwhile, passionfruit supplies are steadily flowing into the UK, and Israel was an important source until three weeks ago, when South African and Zimbabwean product came on stream. “Passionfruit supply is very hard to predict, as it really fluctuates,” says one insider.
On the mango front, the South African season has kicked off extremely late this year. “Supplies would normally have arrived three weeks ago, but there has been a delay due to cooler weather and rain,” one insider tells FPJ. “We are hoping the volumes will be there, and that the season will go longer to make up for the delay at the beginning. That will be no bad thing, as there is usually a gap in supplies following the South African season. We would expect to go through to week 13 or 14.” The first containers hit UK shores last weekend.
Demand for mangoes grew substantially in 2007, according to insiders. Indian mangoes are creating quite a stir on the UK market, thanks to innovative new post-harvest processing technology that is preventing the fruit from collapsing before it reaches the UK market. “We have started supplying the retailers with much more Indian product,” says one grower.
“Lots more UK travellers now visit India, and that has helped boost the exotics category as a whole. Consumers are far more demanding and likely to experiment. The UK consumer has benefited from the retailers pulling up their standards.”
Meanwhile, mango producers in Australia and Pakistan have been affected by severe temperatures, with a heatwave in the former and a cold snap in the latter pushing down both yields and volumes.
On the exotic veg front, one grower reports a vast increase over the last few years in sales of Chinese products into UK supermarkets - a far cry from the days when such lines went solely to the ethnic communities. “Pre-packed Chinese veg is really on the rise - the interest in exotic veg has come from our love of travel and cookery shows, but pre-packed is important because shoppers are not always sure how to prepare it,” he says.
Products like mooli are hotly tipped to be the next big thing in 2008, with fresh prepped veg experts extolling the virtues of the radish family member and its many uses. Although volumes coming into the UK for processing are still modest, its possibilities for usage in coleslaw and salads are many and varied, and while availability in retail is still extremely limited, ethnic food stores have stocked the product for some time now. The vegetable is being brought in from Italy, where it is grown in bulk for the continental market.
Other, even more exotic lines are starting to make a splash in UK retails, including chikoo, a caramel-tasting fruit from India, pictured, which has been very well received so far in the UK retail market, according to one exporter. “The volumes have been phenomenal - 3,000 cases a week,” he tells FPJ. “It is a very unique product, and we are mid-season. It is an extremely sweet and healthy fruit, and volumes and quality this season have been good.”
Sales of okra, baby aubergines, chillies and gourds have also continued to generate success, in particular from India. “Shippers are able to supply these lines year round, because of the different climatic zones across the country,” adds one insider.
AGRIVER’S ARILS TAKE UK BY STORM
I believe the UK is our main strategic market - once you have reached the standards of UK retailers, you can deal with anywhere, writes David Levin of Israeli exporter Agriver. Once we have successfully introduced a product to the UK market, one to two years later we can sell it into Europe.
We have been growing pomegranate seeds, or arils, for the last four years, from one location in Israel and one in India. We also supply wholehead pomegranates to the UK, Europe, eastern Europe and Russia.
We supply 80 per cent of our pomegranate aril exports to the UK, and 20 per cent to Europe - mainly to retailers, but also the foodservice and wholesale sectors. I firmly believe that the aril market, which is very strong in the UK, will soon make a significant breakthrough in Europe.
Our UK clients pack the arils into 150g and 250g punnets, but we have the capacity to pack 100g punnets here in Israel for the UK market. We are flexible enough to do any kind of packaging, according to demand. In the future, we believe most of our packing and processing operations will take place on site in Israel and India, as that will cut costs and improve shelf life.
Our combination of growing and processing techniques allows us to send to our clients all year round, which is the key to success, especially in the UK. Once you start supplying retailers like Tesco and Asda, you have to maintain a year-round presence. This is the second year I have been supplying the UK, and, at the moment, I am in talks with other retailers too.
We are now switching from Israeli to Indian supply - Israeli product is mainly harvested in September and October - and our Indian supplier, located in the centre of India, near Hyderabad, can supply us with product nine months a year. Soon, he will start supplying us from coldstore, and then we can easily process Indian pomegranates 12 months a year.
Agriver also supplies pomelos, fresh herbs and figs to the UK. Figs have two niche seasons in Israel - from late July to the end of August, ending when Turkish supplies come on stream, and then from late October to mid-January. We also grow Israeli strawberries for the UK market, but eastern Europe dominates our volumes of that fruit - mainly Russia, but also the Ukraine, Poland and the Balkan states. This area represents a fast-growing market for us, mainly for herbs, strawberries, peppers and carrots. The UK market is very different - the timing of the Israeli season is very strict when supplying there, as we cannot compete with suppliers closer to the market such as Spain, Morocco and the Netherlands. But when supplying eastern Europe, we have the geographical advantage that Spain has when supplying the UK.
The advantage of working with the UK for us, however, is the fixed price structure, knowing exactly what we will supply and what we will get for it. If I have a fig programme with a UK retailer, I know that it will last for eight to 12 weeks, and that will not change, unlike on other markets, which can be infiltrated by cheaper competition mid-season. The UK is a stable market, because retailers can only use suppliers like us who are reliable and can meet all the certification requirements.
Demand for pomegranate arils in the UK has taken us by surprise - it is unbelievable. Consumers are becoming more aware of the health benefits of pomegranates, and we sell our peak volumes, about eight tonnes a week to retail and three tonnes to foodservice and wholesale, in July and August. However, Agriver believes the market offers a potential of triple that volume.
We are working on promotions of pomegranate arils around Christmas and Valentine’s Day, as we believe their colour and appearance lend themselves well to these events. Pomegranates combine the two qualities of tasting good but also being very nutritional. We use an Israeli chef who specialises in cooking with arils, and she has produced a recipe booklet for us.
Agriver’s growth will continue as new kinds of consumers wise up to the health qualities of pomegranates. We served the UK market with almost 50t of product this winter, as we did over the summer, but we believe we can double this volume in two years.
Agriver is a growing company, and we feel demand for exotics in the UK is shooting up. The fact we can offer fruit with high health properties, and that we prepare product, makes us a key firm for UK retailers.
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