Exotics and Fairtrade lines make their presence known

I have often wondered how much extra money Fairtrade producers get, but Fairtrade grape growers in South Africa have received further benefits via Sainsbury’s with an added bonus. At the moment, the multiple is giving a 10p donation alongside the Fairtrade premium it pays on red seedless variety Ralli, grown by De Hoop Keboes.

The pack points out that the Fairtrade brand guarantees the producer groups being paid a fair and stable price. The extra cash from Sainsbury’s is being used for communities to invest in healthcare, education and wellbeing - in fact, what I thought the original concept was all about. The fruit is priced at £2.69 for 500g.

On a more exotic train of thought, the demand for specialist vegetables for the ethnic sector of the market continues to expand and attract new sources of supply.

One of the lesser-known varieties to catch my eye in Asda was turia from Ghana, priced at £2.98 a kilo. The mild gourd looks like a pale green, thin-ridged cucumber and is also known as an “angled loofah”.

Just as the population in general gets used to seeing Asian pears, Asda is alternatively labelling the Chinese Ya variety, at £1.67 for four, as “oriental”.

It is always a point of discussion among the trade as to when such niche products finally make the break-out to becoming mainstream. It was not all that long ago, for example, when butternut squash was in the exotics category - but the vegetable is now well known.

The result has been not just a healthy UK production, but arrivals from around the world. To make the point, Somerfield is stocking squash from Panama priced at £1.40 a kilo.

Salad snack packs from sources closer to home have certainly caught on. The first successful attempt is down to the Dutch, who placed radishes in those cone-shaped packs. This concept is no less evident from suppliers such as Israel, which is sending a more conventional polybag to Lidl at 39p for 200g.

Cherry tomatoes have been a natural follow-on, although Asda has created a point of difference by adding chopped cucumber as part of its ‘three for £1’ kids’ range.

The idea of mix and match has also extended into the more marginal tropical and sub-tropical fruit lines. Tesco is running an offer at present that covers a single papaya, pomegranate and pomelo at two for £2.50.