The major retailers have reported considerable year-on-year growth across the herb category, with a few items particularly leading the way.
Waitrose’s herb offer consists of between 30 and 40 lines at any one time, depending on the season, including a range of different pack sizes of both cut and potted herbs, according to herb and salads buyer, Alistair Stone. The category also includes organic versions of some of the lines.
“We have seen good growth over the last two years, driven by increased branch numbers but also by better cut herb shelf-life and therefore availability,” says Stone.
“There is no real substitute for fresh herbs and the disappointment factor is high if they are not there,” he continues. “Our customers are adventurous and they do cook regularly - they expect them to be available, especially as fresh herbs are regularly used in many of the recipes featured in our publications.”
While sales of potted herbs have increased since last year, cut herbs are still the most popular with sales up by 40 per cent on last year, he says. And prices have only increased where packaging weights have increased.
Asda has also increased its pack sizes for fresh herbs from 15g to 20g as well as introducing three new cut herb lines - tarragon, dill and lemon thyme, and has observed a 6.5 per cent increase in sales from last year, according to a spokesman.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has also reported a marked increase in sales, despite lowering the price of the products. “Sales are currently tracking approximately 10 per cent year-on-year in value terms,” says salad buyer Clancy McMahon. “This is a fair performance when considering the current deflation in the area of 10 per cent. Retail prices have moved down considerably in the last year, currently retailing at 64-69p in Sainsbury’s.”
“Coriander has been the recent success story with sales up 24 per cent year-on-year,” she continues. “We watch out for best sellers through our ‘Herb of the Month’ innovation plan. New lines can be trialled and we can see which varieties our customers prefer.”
Stone has found the same preference among Waitrose customers. He says: “This is mainly due to the rising popularity of ethnic cooking, but also people are realising that coriander is a very versatile herb that can be used in many different ways. Basil, parsley - curly and flat - and mint are mainstays of the fixture, but classic English herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and sage are also seeing good growth.”
While Asda reports notable success with potted herb - in particular, basil, coriander and parsley - Waitrose’s Stone highlights that both cut and potted herbs have their place in the market. “Since the arrival of the pot herb, it is apparent that customers tend to choose one or the other,” he says.
“Promotional activity doesn’t tend to have an effect either way, the pot and cut customers stay loyal. The pot customers may buy the plant as ‘half to eat, half a kitchen feature’ but the cut herb has one use only, and will be bought for that day or maybe the following. It is not a store cupboard item.”
However, Stone says Waitrose is committed to bringing attention to the category as a whole through targeted promotion. He says: “Given that herbs are predominantly a planned purchase, promotions are part of a bigger strategy aimed at increasing penetration. The types of promotion used will tie in with this.”
Adopting seasonal lines has helped expand the category but their success is heavily dependent on marketing, Stone explains: “A new herb appearing on the shelf will not sell itself. Specialist products need to be examined to strengthen the offer, but must be able to justify inclusion in an already large range.”
With expanding range of herb salads on offer, McMahon agrees the boundary between the two lines has become somewhat blurred, especially given the increased offerings of potted or ‘living’ salads: “Dried herbs and iceberg, for example, would never have been seen as the same category but with growing basil and growing ‘living lettuce’ we are seeing more comparisons.
“This is a positive move for both salads and herbs as it ensures the customer has the freshest possible product in their home. It also encourages customers to experiment more and more with herb varieties in their salad.”
Both Waitrose and Sainsbury’s source their potted varieties from the UK year-round, while cut herbs are supplied from the UK as well as other countries, such as Israel, Spain and Morocco, depending on the quality of product available.
While the UK climate is not conducive to growing all varieties of herbs year-round, like the multiples, herb companies supplying the food-service sector are able to maintain consistency by supplementing their home-grown crops with foreign imports.
Worcester-based Herb grower and processor, Red Deer Herbs, for example, has around 25 acres of herbs in production for harvesting between May and December, with an additional five acres of glasshouse production, according to sales and development director, Paul Dunne.
During the remaining months, the company imports herbs from Spain and Israel, as well as Colombia, India and Thailand. It produces some two tonnes a week of the main lines - basil, coriander, flat parsley - and a number of smaller lines.
Red Deer Herbs supplies major food manufacturers in the UK, as well as companies in Ireland, France and Germany. Along with the ability to ensure excellent product quality by focusing on the entire supply chain, Dunne says the company’s success is largely due to its proactive stance.
“At Red Deer we pride ourselves in our rapid response to requests for help, advice and samples,” he says. “We are continually looking at ways to improve our product and meet our customer’s needs within this fast evolving industry.”
Dunne highlights the importance of engaging in continual R&D to maintain a competitive edge in the foodservice industry. To this end, the company is committed to interacting with its customers as well as the retailers higher up the supply chain in developing new varieties and new techniques to offer the market.
Advancing the treatment of herbs is a particular focus at Red Deer, Dunne says: “We have developed and patented a method of heat treatment of herbs, which destroys bacteria, yeasts and moulds, extends shelf life, and enhances product colour.
“Currently available for all of our frozen products we have developed this technique to allow fresh garnishes to be used on high-risk dishes and as ingredients in microbiologically sensitive situations. This process adds insignificantly to the cost of the product when the benefits are taken into consideration.”
In addition, Red Deer is currently working on a new process which will extend the shelf life of fresh herbs by as much as three or four days. “The main advantage is the herbs still retain that just-cut fresh appearance which is what the industry is looking for,” Dunne claims.
A niche section of the food industry which has become an increasingly attractive option for herb traders is infused oils. And business has blossomed for SpringThyme Oils, the UK’s largest producer, since it introduced the idea in 1992.
“They were literally brand new to the UK market and as such there where no other companies making anything similar,” says SpringThyme sales and marketing director Ken Williams. “This gave us the time and opportunity to develop a very strong position in terms of solus supply, largely due to the uniqueness of what we were doing.”
The company has since secured around 90 per cent of the UK market at both industrial and retail levels. “We fully anticipate every UK retailer to be stocking own brand infused oils within the next 12 months,” says Williams. “So far, M&S, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons stock infused ranges. One hundred percent of product packed into these retail ranges originates from SpringThyme and we are confident of growing our presence in this sector.”
However, SpringThyme regards the food manufacturing sector as the greatest potential market, which now accounts for some 95 per cent of its customer base. “As far as business to business supply is concerned, we deal with the top twenty or so UK food groups and a myriad of other small, medium and large manufacturers,” Williams says.
“This market is gradually becoming more aware of the applications of herb oils made by infusion and is increasing month on month. We believe we are only scratching the surface of this market sector and anticipate there to be substantial medium-term growth as more and more producers look to innovate with these quality ingredients.”
While SpringThyme has seen increasing demand for its full range of oils, which includes infusions of fruit, vegetables and various spices, the dominance of basil continues to establish herb-infused oils as the best-selling category, according to Williams. “The herbs tend to perform best when you infuse them because the oils have an extremely authentic taste,” he says. Out of 140 flavours, basil accounts for 50 per cent of sales, and Williams expects this trend to continue, along with additional growth across the catalogue of varieties.
In response to an increasing demand for its products, SpringThyme has recently relocated to a new purpose-designed factory in Padiham, Lancashire. Phase two of the company’s major redevelopment, is due to start this summer and will see the installation of an additional production line.
With two production lines in place, the company expects to manufacture around 1,000t of infused oils a year. And Williams says business will continue to increase as the food service industry develops year-on-year.
There are several advantages of using infused oils for the prepared food industry, he claims: “They are very easy to handle, whereas fresh herbs by their nature can be quite fiddly. You have to clean them and sort them owing to the variability of quality in the field. Whereas the oils are standardised, produced in a highly sophisticated process.
“Another benefit for food manufacturers is they can kill two birds with one stone. They get all the flavours of the herbs without all the difficulties associated with them. That’s not to say that they don’t complement fresh herbs because they do and a lot of people use them with fresh herbs, partly for the visual effect and partly for flavour.”
Numerous manufacturers have been impressed by the cost-effectiveness of the products, says Williams. Owing to the intensity of the infusing process, the oils have a very strong aromatic flavour. As such a smaller amount is required, and the overall cost of the oil is much less than the volume of fresh herbs needed to produce the equivalent intensity of flavour.
Like Red Deer, SpringThyme is continually investigating ways in which it can respond to the ever-changing demands of the food market and the opportunities are manifold, Williams claims. “We are currently working on a brand new product line using infusion and fresh herbs,” he says. “It will be launched in Autumn this year at IFE Paris and is a product application targeted at the bakery sector of the food industry, but with wider application possibilities for everything from pizzas and ready meals to burgers, sausages, soups and dry mixes.”
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