Tesco’s new “giant satsuma”, launched in-store this week is the chain’s latest fruit offering to tap into its customer’s desire for larger fruit.
The South African grown satsumas, which are the Japanese type Kiyomi, went on Tesco shelves for the first time this Monday, and will enjoy a two-week run, retailing at £1.99 a kilo bag.
The retailer is marketing the fruit as combining the easy peel-ability of a satsuma with the juiciness of an orange. It has stuck with the satsuma tag, said citrus buyer Martin de la Fuente, because the satsuma “is in danger of becoming obsolete as world demand is seriously dropping”.
He told FPJ: “There are not huge volumes of this variety available and it has a window of around three weeks, although we have started a week in. One of the reasons we’ve brought it in is that we have had significant success by increasing the size of our fruit.
“We have already seen step changes in lines such as mangoes and pineapple. Our customers seem to want bigger, not smaller fruit, believing that it offers them better value for money.
“There will always be a debate on whether you compromise taste by growing bigger fruit, but with this particular satsuma, it tastes as good as any satsuma you could eat.”
The variety was first grown in Japan, when a grower crossed a satsuma with the orange variety Trovita. Around 10,000 tonnes are sold around the world.
“We think they’ll be very popular. They are also the only satsumas available right now,” de la Fuente said.
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