Having an apple each day is certainly helping sales of the fruit to grow at a time when its cousin the pear is seeing a decline in desirability.
According to new Kantar data, overall value sales of top fruit have increased by £35 million, and the market is now worth £985m. The most popular occasion for snacking is lunchtime as consumers add a healthy choice to their lunchboxes. In the last year there were some 3.6 billion consumption occasions.
Value sales of top fruit are being driven by price increases, reflecting the higher costs of inputs for growers. Despite that, volume sales are holding steady with just a slight decline of 0.4 per cent.
However, pears have seen a year-on-year value sales decline of 6.9 per cent and a decrease in volume sales by 4.9 per cent.
Top fruit now accounts for 32 per cent of the UK’s fruit consumption, with some 656,000 tonnes sold in the year to May. Apples account for 519,945 tonnes. Volume sales are up by 1.4 per cent and value sales by 1.9 per cent. Pears, on the other hand, account for 136,352 tonnes.
Of the retailers, Morrisons in particular is reaping the rewards of investing in new formats for promoting the produce.
The supermarket’s apples and pears buying manager, Dean Tunbridge, says the new fresh format stores are helping to invigorate the category. “We have always had a fresh food mentality and we always offer the customer quality and choice,” he says.
“Our sales have been helped by the way we present the produce in loose, pack and tray. We also benefit from great choice; we have the Smitten apple as an exclusive, and we are always talking to the customer about what is in season.”
While Sainsbury’s - which still has a dominant position in British top-fruit sales - appears to have seen a decline overall, driven by fewer customers and smaller baskets, according to Kantar, M&S has slightly gained ground.
This year its value sales were 3.1 per cent compared to 2011 at 2.4 per cent. Although the retailer has a small grocery share compared to others, it is one of the most innovative when it comes to introducing new products such as the ‘Papple’.
Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples & Pears, says British growers recognise that costs are increasing but are working hard to create more efficiency. “Almost every input cost has risen, from labour to chemicals and fuel,” he says. “However, there have been many developments, especially in production and storage, that are helping the industry to be more efficient. Growers are delivering high-quality produce and the British consumer is responding.”
One of the largest British apple growers, Norman Collett, agrees. “UK top-fruit growers are really benefitting from the buy-British trend that’s taking place,” says a spokesman.
“With the Jubilee and the Olympics, there is a lot of interest and support for British produce. Retailers and customers are asking for British apples and we are working hard to supply those demands. It is reminiscent of the 1980s when we last had a recession - there was a resurgence in British produce and since then we have been building towards creating secure supplies for retailers so they can reduce imports and stock home-grown apples and pears.”
Market commentators suggest that while customer demand for British products is one of the leading reasons for retailers sourcing more from the UK, along with the growth in varieties, there are other pertinent drivers for home-grown produce.
Retailers are also facing the challenge of an ageing core consumer. Kantar claims that the over 45s account for nearly half of the consumption of apples and pears.
Tunbridge says Morrisons is aware of this and has been working with growers to attract younger people into the fresh produce aisle. “We have introduced children’s ranges and we’re always looking at opportunities to educate the younger consumer,” he added. -
PEAR DROP
Pear growers are becoming increasingly concerned over falling consumption figures across the continent. And at a recent conference, the issue of how to address the problem was top of the agenda. Samantha Lyster reports
When it comes to a game of two halves, it would appear that the pear is on the losing side of top-fruit consumption in the UK.
While the apple is scoring highly, pears are suffering from a lack of investment and a lack of interest on the behalf of the consumer.
Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples & Pears, says that one of the reasons the pear loses out in the UK is that consumer taste is split. For practical reasons pears need to go in-store when they are hard, and while there are consumers who enjoy this texture, there are many who prefer the softer, juicer stage of a pear.
However, Barlow claims that consumers are not ready to wait for the maturing of the pear and so simply do not buy it. “There are some fantastic new trials for pears,” he says. “While there has been lots of work on educating consumers, it appears we need more.”
Britain is not the only country ignoring pears in the produce aisle: consumption is down across Europe. At the fifth international pear conference Interpera, hosted by AREFLH and held in Spain last week, some 200 delegates gathered to discuss the key issue of how to capture the modern European customer.
The pear is in an unfortunate chicken-and-egg position, with production hampered by climate problems, disease and legislation. With a drop in production has come a reduction in consumer interest. For the British, a lack of investment is also holding back the fruit, though projects such as the Concept Pear Orchard in Kent offer hope.
Growers, agronomists, importers and exporters from pear-growing countries around Europe, as well as Argentina and South Africa, were told of the importance of addressing plant-health barriers to open up new markets as well as working together to promote their products.
Luciano Trentini, AREFLH vice-president, suggested a policy of active promotion to revive consumption, which is on a downward spiral in Europe. “It has fallen by 5.1kg per head during the three-year period from 2009-11,” he added. “In Italy only 365,000 tonnes were consumed in 2010-11 compared to 455,000 in 2000-01. We need to start up a more practical dialogue with consumers so that they are better informed about the nutritional characteristics of this fruit, its low calorie content and the fact that it is rich in minerals.”
Manel Simon of Catalonia growers’ association Afrucat pointed out that for many growers, disease was one of the main challenges. “The fight against disease is becoming one of the most important challenges and a main barrier to exports, often even more so than tariff barriers,” he offered.
In another blow for pear production, figures released at the conference indicate early varieties such as Blanquilla and Limonera are likely to have been affected by an unseasonably cool, wet spring and late frosts in some areas.
In total, volumes across Europe are likely to be down on last year. -
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