Andrew Poulton has long been providing the UK retail sector with fruit and vegetables. But his perspective of the sector changed when he began to work with organic produce.

“Like many people who have spent their lives in the fresh produce industry, I am drawn to supermarket shelves, whether they be in Tooting Broadway [south London] or downtown Buenos Aires [Argentina],” he says. “My experience in the industry has been largely through the supply of conventional fresh fruit to the leading UK retailers.

“However, since I have been associated with this sector of the market, I have been monitoring the retailing of this organic products. I have recently done some research into the positioning in store of a range of basic food items to see if organic producers are being given the best shop window for their hard work. “I do not think that they are.”

The chart below illustrates the results of a sequence of visits made by Poulton to leading UK retail chains between February 26 and March 8 2004. While a small sample size, the findings are indicative of wider policy. Poulton’s belief is that organic fresh produce would perform better in-store if it was retailed alongside its conventional counterpart.

“When I go into a store as a customer, I generally know what I will buy as part of my weekly shop,” he explains. “There will be some impulse purchases because of special offers or very attractive looking items but generally I, in common with most members of the public, am a creature of habit.

“When I want bread for instance, and go to that sector to make a purchase, I have the choice between lots of products, some of which are organic. The same applies with eggs, milk and most other lines as my attached independent survey shows. However, in the majority of cases organic fresh produce is in a separate sector [of the store] to the rest of the range.

“To take one example, if I want apples I would normally first go to the apple display shelves. There I make a decision between colour, size and country of origin. To buy or have the choice to buy organic, I generally have to go to a separate area. This is not easy when a store is busy at peak times.

“Unless I specifically want organic produce, I would have to repeat the process to make a complete choice of other items. This does not encourage non-organically minded customers to try organic fresh produce.”

This situation of course manifests itself throughout the fresh produce section of most stores, and only bananas are regularly seen with conventional fruit.

“So what is the answer? Poulton says: “I would like to see the organic producers competing on a level playing field to gain new customers. I do not think price is a barrier if the public regard a product as superior. Price will gain impulse purchases, but only quality will gain repeat purchases. It is through better eating quality that we can achieve customer satisfaction and eventually increase consumption.”

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