The latest Kantar figures highlight increased purchase frequency driving growth in soft-fruit value of 1.3 per cent year on year to the end of November, in what was a tough year for supplies across many produce lines.

One industry insider says: “After a very difficult year I would say that a modest growth in strawberries has helped the category to a positive position and blueberries have seen accelerated growth of 13 per cent, driven by a variety of promotions.”

Supplies are currently a little tight, with fierce competition for fruit exported by Egypt coming from continental Europe.

Morocco is soon to begin following a delayed start, however, and will be followed by Spain and any shortage on the market will only be short-lived.

Nick Marston, managing director of Berry Gardens, says Spanish strawberry plantings are up on the back of a good 2012, while Morocco continues to develop good-quality production for the fresh market. “Any shortage will only be for the next two weeks or so and I think the prospects are good for February, March and April.”

John Grieve of long-established importer Lisons specialises in fruit from Spain. He agrees that the season is running a little late.

“Strawberries from Spain are a bit delayed but I am seeing my suppliers in Huelva next week and I know that they will have some new varieties for this season; they are constantly updating their varieties.”

Marston emphasises that growers generally are moving away from production of Sabrosa and planting more Fortuna and Sabrina strawberries in Spain. In Morocco, there is a move away from Festival. “There is an acceptance that it is a more dated variety in terms of size and flavour.”

The Driscoll’s connection means that Berry Gardens has some top-of-the-range varieties – such as Magdalena grown in Spain – at its disposal and is working these under premium own labels at the major multiples as well as some much improved standard varieties such as Lusa, Bonaire and El Dorado.

Raspberries are more delicate and there has been a tendency over the last 10 years to keep growing and growing but for some reason last year the canes did not produce as much. But there are more blueberries coming through.

Berries remain very popular in the UK in general, Marston points out, as it is a fruit consumers are more familiar with than peaches and nectarines, for example.

“What we are hoping for is decent weather to help sell the crop. The rain last year made it very difficult for the English crop, for example, but if we get some signs of early spring it will generate interest in Spanish strawberries.”

Looking at raspberries, the performance has been disappointing. Traders point out that this line has been affected by the weather both in the UK and in Spain. One said: “Additionally we saw much more aggressive promotions on strawberries, blueberries and blackberries last year, which had a detrimental effect on raspberries.”

Marston points out that Spanish growers are supplying much later this season to avoid a clash with late-autumn fruit from northern Europe that may have had a negative effect on the figures. “In January, February, March and April, I expect to see much better year-on-year comparisons for raspberries,” he says.

Meanwhile, looking deeper into the Kantar data it shows that the discounters’ share of the market has dropped and Morrisons’ has grown, driven by increased purchase frequency, while M&S, Waitrose and the Co-operative have all seen values decline despite overtrading.

One analyst says: “This arguably is not to do with demographics as more ABCs are shopping at discounters than ever before. I would suggest that it is a quality issue for discounters. And for Morrisons the next period may show a different story. I believe that M&S, Waitrose and the Co-operative each have a dedicated core customer base that remains loyal. The prize for growth for all retailers is the switching shopper and the new generation shoppers.”

The sector’s hopes for soft fruit were summed up by one operator: “The next few months will see many marketing opportunities with Valentine’s Day and Easter, for example, and with expected good availability and a bout of good weather we are hopeful of an excellent year.” —

ASF’s winter wonder

The Good Natured strawberry brand will be available for longer thanks to supply plans put in place for this season, writes Kathy Hammond

Angus Soft Fruits (ASF) has its eyes firmly on Spain as it expands sourcing for its Good Natured range.

Labelled Succulent Strawberries, the fruit enjoyed part of the nine per cent upswing recorded by Kantar over the summer in strawberry volumes in the UK. And now, ASF is sourcing from Huelva during the Spanish season for the brand, which it guarantees is free from pesticide residues. The fruit is going into Asda later this month.

The Good Natured brand was launched with Scottish strawberries back in 2008 and now ASF hopes supplies from its partnership growers will boost availability over the winter. James Miller, national account manager at ASF, said: “Our plan is to provide pesticide residue-free soft fruit to the UK market until the start of the main Scottish season in early May.”

The next challenge will be to find availability to cover the late autumn and early winter window from the end of October, when Scottish supplies come to an end, until January when Spain appears. “Based on the success of 2012 and from what our consumer research tells us, the next stage is for us to deliver Good Natured soft fruit when the Scottish season ends in October to when Spanish crops commence in January and we already have a strong plan in place for this.

“Consumers who buy Good Natured are looking for a pesticide residue-free alternative to a product they can already buy year round. Nevertheless, supply needs to be consistent and we are working with our existing growers to deliver consistently pesticide residue-free fruit year round.”

And there is clearly a market for the brand. Good Natured has some 15 different lines from onions to bananas, including raspberries, blueberries, potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and capsicum. These lines showed collective volume growth of 43 per cent year on year over the summer from May to August 2012, with strawberries alone recording an impressive 230 per cent upswing.

Lochy Porter, Good Natured managing director, said: “Extending our range of strawberries to cover the winter season allows us to bring the best produce to British consumers all year round. While we cannot grow the strawberries in Scotland as we do during the summer, the growers in Huelva follow stringent procedures, which will ensure that we are able to continue providing pesticide residue-free strawberries with the characteristic sweet aroma and juicy texture.”

The fruit will be marketed in 250g punnets in selected Asda stores from the end of January until April. —

Topics