Niche lines find their place

Despite recessionary pressures shoppers are picking up exotic treats in greater volume and more often, new figures show.

Kantar Worldpanel data for the year to 20 January shows that increased purchase frequency and trip size are driving the market and account for 85 per cent of the 10.6 per cent volume growth. Value is also climbing by 9.9 per cent year on year and the total market is calculated to be worth £365 million for the period.

Part of the reason for the growth is undoubtedly promotions and although Kantar records that promotional levels have been flat, it is price-cut promotions that account for almost two-thirds of all activity.

Melons, particularly sold through the discounters and The Co-operative, have been a major force in the category's performance. One melon category manager says: 'It is not so much a case of particular varieties doing well, but growth in the market across the piece. There has been a huge amount of promotional work, especially in the build up to Christmas at every single retailer. There were price points of £1 or £1.25 and that has boosted growth.' He adds that growing demand from processors for melons in fresh-prepared fruit salads is an important factor in the increase.

Another of the lines behind the growth in the exotic arena is avocados. In particular the discounters have been overtrading in this area. One category player explains: 'We are seeing some good on-shelf activity on avocados, especially promotions such as two-for deals.'

Packaging formats and the emergence of ripe-ready is also playing a role. The same source says: 'I think what has also been helping is the ripe and ready two-packs.

'Shoppers are buying them with confidence and the product is really delivering. Avocados are a planned purchase really so when they are buying these packs, the consumers know that they are going to be using them in the next couple of days and they really want them to perform.'

Undoubtedly the fact that the ripe-and-ready fruit is often sold in two-packs is helping drive volume. Among the smaller volume lines that have been making a good showing are sharonfruit and persimmon.

The Israeli sharonfruit season is finishing in the next month. Oded Jacobson, chief executive of Galilee Export, says: 'It is getting harder for Israeli sharonfruit as the Spanish are planting more persimmon so our window on the season becomes shorter.

'They are planting Rojo Brillante, which is bigger and our sharonfruit is smaller and more orange in colour. The real demand for us is after Christmas until mid-March, and prices have been reasonable, but not really more than that. It is to do with the weakness of sterling over the last three months. If that continues then we could have a problem.'

The Spanish persimmon season runs from early October until the last week of December and uptake this year has impressed one importer of the product. 'Persimmon is a relatively new line for us and it just gets bigger each year.

'There is the potential for the season to go into January but we don't want to push the product too far and risk compromising quality and losing consumers. There is a greater understanding of the product now and it is appearing increasingly on TV used in recipes and being eaten on its own.'

While most fruit is consumed for reasons of health and at breakfast or in lunchboxes, according to Kantar Worldpanel, exotics have a different profile. They are twice as likely to appear at the evening meal and more likely to be consumed for enjoyment than health.

Persimmon appears to fit this profile, says the importer, and he also believes that consumers are happy with the seasonal nature of the product and the fact that it is not available year round is not an issue.

'I think that shoppers are starting to look out for it,' says the importer. 'They appreciate that it is seasonal and are glad to see it back on the shelves.

'It fits with the peach and nectarine season from Spain and comes into season when the stonefruit season ends.' —

ECUADOR'S UK FOCUS

Banana sendings from Ecuador to the UK are huge in value terms - worth some £52 million last year. But importers this side of the Atlantic are viewing the Andean nation as an emerging supplier of mangoes.

Juan Diego Stacey Chiriboga, trade commissioner for ProEcuador in London, says: 'Mango, for example, has a unique window of production compared to other countries and can therefore be an interesting source of supply for the UK between October and January/February.'

Importantly, it is a reduction in transit times that has boosted UK interest, not just in mango, but also the smaller volume line of pitahaya.

In volume terms, pineapple, mango and papaya follow bananas as the highest-volume fresh produce exports. Production and export of exotic lines is largely shared between small and medium-sized businesses in contrast to the banana trade, which is predominantly in the hands of very large businesses.

Cultivation is based in the coastal areas of Esmeraldas, Manabi, Guayas and El Oro. But there are also important pockets of production in the inland area of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas for pineapple and in the highlands where avocados are produced along with most of Ecuador's vegetable lines.

The Ecuadorian government has been placing considerable focus recently on promotion of its country's products. Stacey explains: 'As ProEcuador we are increasing significantly our promotion of Ecuadorian products worldwide and have opened 31 trade offices in different countries.

'In the specific case of the UK, we are promoting our Ecuadorian goldenberries (physalis) with the support of Janey Lee Grace and via her website www.imperfectlynatural.com.'

ProEcuador is also delighted that dried goldenberries have started to be sold in health food chain Holland & Barrett. Stacey says: 'This is an important step towards increasing knowledge and consumption of this fruit. We are also using other marketing tools to promote our exotic fruits in specialised magazines and through direct contact with importers.'

ProEcuador believes that the products showing the most potential are mango, pitahaya and physalis and it is looking to open up markets not just in the UK, but also the lucrative US and Japanese markets, as well as the vast market of China.

To this end there is important research and development work ongoing. 'There is research being carried out by the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIAP) looking for improvement of productivity in the sector as well as diversification of varieties with potential on different international markets.' —