Since Morrisons introduced the old-time concept of a Market Street into its stores and started advertising that it makes and prepares a wider range of fresh food in store than any other supermarket, it has never looked back.
Every week, nine million customers pass through its 382 stores, helped by 117,000 staff. The supermarket chain is doing better than ever, having reported a record market share of 11.9 per cent at the end of last year and an annual turnover of £7.1 billion.
Its Fresh for You mantra has played no small part in this and the retailer is keen to play on its fresh produce credentials. This is backed up by its aim to provide some of the best value for money in retail.
This impressive offer saw Morrisons named Re:fresh Foods from Spain Multiple Retailer of the Year 2008, marking its shift in gear as it takes on the UK grocery market like never before. Since the win, a number of initiatives have been set up to make the most of the store’s fresh produce offer.
The chain teamed up with regional marketing scheme From My Farm back in October, to offer shoppers in the east of England a range of locally grown fruit and vegetables. The range, from eight growers, will include a wide variety of root vegetables, brassicas including cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, leeks and onions, as well as fruit lines. In the next 12 months, it is hoped that more than 50 different product lines will be sold, from around 30 local growers. Each product will be clearly labelled with the name and location of the grower, to connect shoppers with where their food comes from.
This work on improving awareness has spilled into activities aimed at encouraging children to learn about how their food is produced, with its Let’s Grow initiative. From September to November last year, customers were given vouchers for every £10 spent in store, which could be redeemed for school gardening equipment including seeds, spades and greenhouses.
One of the latest initiatives is the launch of a North Yorkshire range in stores across the region, which features more than 35 locally produced fresh foods to reinforce the chain’s commitment to its fresh food offer.
This emphasis on freshness and provenance is underlined on the Morrisons website, where a meet-the-greengrocer profile helps consumers connect with where their food comes from and how it is looked after in store, backed by run-downs of the newest seasonal offers, such as British strawberries or Jersey Royal potatoes.
Nick Malsden, produce manager at Morrisons in York, is profiled on the site. The 29-year-old has worked for the retailer for 12 years, starting on a part-time basis as a student and working his way up to produce manager. He is now a regional trainer for other produce managers.
His day starts bright and early - like much of the fresh produce business - at 5.30am, when he checks the day’s delivery of fruit and vegetables. Together with his 16-strong team, he makes sure that the fresh produce department is ready for when the store opens at 8am.
“We need to make sure that everything is in good condition and is attractively presented,” says Malsden. “The availability of our lines - around 400 - has to be spot on… It is all about maintaining the standard from the first customer to the last customer. My role is to make sure that every customer has a good experience in store and I find it really satisfying to get the department set up for customers so that they have the best choice. That is what Market Street is all about - fresh, quality food that is good value for money.”
The presentation of the fruit and vegetables is one of the most important considerations in store. The team knows it is not just about making the produce look good - it is about keeping it in the best condition.
“We present our fruit and vegetables slightly differently at Morrisons,” Malsden explains. “For example, we hang up all the bunches of bananas to ensure that they don’t get bruised - they are hung just the way nature intended. We also price each bunch individually so that customers know exactly what they are paying for. We have had really good feedback on this from our York customers.
“Arranging melons in shies [individual holes] means that they are not stacked up on top of each other, which helps to keep them from being damaged. For extra choice, we also sell portions of melon - ripe for that day - which we keep in the fridge.
“We cut off the stems of broccoli so that you only pay for what you eat. And we trim the leaves from our cauliflowers - although we let our customers help themselves to the leaves to take home for their pet rabbits, free of charge.
“We also offer loose fruit and veg for most varieties, especially when in season, so customers can just buy what they need.”
The role of the greengrocer in store is very much hands-on, with produce managers there to answer consumer questions and queries, just as they would have done in the past.
“I get many regular customers who come in and say hello,” says Malsden. “They might ask me to pick out a ripe melon for them, or they might ask me when a pineapple or avocado will be best to eat.
“I try to offer as much advice as I can. You often find that customers help each other out with cooking tips…
“What I really enjoy about this job is that every day you always see the beginning and end of what we sell. The fruit and vegetables come in fresh, we sell them fresh and then we start all over again the next day.”
Morrisons offers its customers a point of difference in that almost every aspect of its commercial operation is kept in-house. The chain has its own packing and distribution centres, which gives it more control over its range and the quality of its products.
As much fresh produce as possible is sourced from UK growers. Morrisons procures all of its carrots, broccoli, swede and cauliflower domestically, when in season. The same can be said for around 90 per cent of its onions, mushrooms and potatoes, when available.
It is clear that the supermarket chain has come a long way since its humble beginnings, when egg and butter merchant William Morrison set up a stall on Bradford Market in 1899. Its progress was such that in 1958, the stall became a small town centre shop with just three check-outs. The first supermarket, Victoria, opened its doors in the city in 1961, with 5,000sqft of retail space and free parking.
The retailer continued to grow and expand at a steady rate and, in 1980, it ventured into fresh food production with a purpose-built factory trading as a wholly owned subsidiary. This was followed in 1988 with a new distribution centre in Wakefield.
Morrisons opened its first store in the South, in Erith, greater London, in 1998 and its 100th store opened in 1999, marking its centenary year.
The chain completed its takeover of Safeway in 2004, creating the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket group. The conversion process, which ended in November 2005, was the biggest ever undertaken in the UK.
Since then, the retail chain appears to have come into its own, especially since the launch of a new marketing campaign featuring the likes of Denise van Outen, Helen Baxendale and Richard Hammond, to promote its fresh, good-value lines. This has helped Morrisons continue to move forward and increase its market share, at a time when some of its major rivals have all but ground to a halt.
The combination of Market Street, full of fruit and vegetables, as well as meat and fish in a traditional and well-loved format, with Price Crunch deals on some of the most popular items, has helped keep the chain buoyant.
“In this challenging economic environment, more customers than ever are choosing Morrisons,” said chief executive Marc Bolland, when he revealed an impressive set of financial results at the end of last year. “Our industry-leading deals and unique fresh food offer have attracted more than 700,000 new customers to our stores.”
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