“Our strategy is simple because it is customer focused,” says Danny Grover, senior fruit buyer at Budgens, pictured above. “We believe in offering the consumer the best quality fruit at a fair price that offers good value for money.”
The soft citrus sector is the fastest growing sector in the citrus category, with the biggest demand for good quality, easy peel, seedless clementines. Demand is still at its largest in the period from November to May, says Grover, when an abundance of seasonal soft citrus is available from Spain. Further development of the clementine sector is needed to fully provide a 12-month offer on soft citrus, with the most difficult period being September and October.
Satsumas are still very popular, says Grover, but growth is slower as consumers switch to better-flavoured clementines. Satsumas from Spain and Turkey are heavily associated with Christmas, and therefore demand over the festive period is at its highest, with appropriate promotions in place to drive volume.
Growth in the orange sector is moderate as consumer demand switches to the easy peel sector. The orange sector is seeing good growth in Navel and Navelina varieties that are easy to peel with a sweet, juicy, flavoursome flesh.
Budgens has had very few issues with the supply of good quality citrus fruit this year, says Grover. “The biggest supply issue was the late start of the Florida grapefruit season which resulted in a shortage of good-quality grapefruit.”
The key northern hemisphere source for oranges, soft citrus and lemons is Spain which is renowned for the freshness and quality of citrus fruit, while with grapefruit, Budgens sources from Florida.
“Florida grows excellent quality, juicy, thin-skinned grapefruit,” says Grover. More than 75 per cent of Budgens’ grapefruit sales from Florida are the Flame and Ruby varieties. He believes that the biggest sourcing issues in the citrus category are the availability of soft citrus in September and October, a gap in the supply of good quality grapefruit prior to the start of the Florida season in October, and the inconsistency of lemons varieties throughout the year.
“Budgens’ approach to sourcing citrus is the same as the approach we take with all categories,” Grover says. “We work closely with category managers to source the best quality produce while retailing at a fair price and offering the consumer excellent value for money. In the case of citrus we will promote the best quality produce when in season. Our main focus however, will be to continue to drive growth in the soft citrus sector with strong, customer focused promotions on the best quality seasonal clementines. The main category drivers in the citrus category are freshness, quality and taste. Equally important is value for money, coupled with a strong promotional campaign.”
The biggest weakness in the supply chain is the clear communication of meaningful data, says Grover, although there is an abundance of information available from scanned sales, Superpanel data and consumer research. “It is vital that this data is interpreted correctly to make decisions on what crops and varieties to grow in order to meet future demand.”
There is still plenty of growth in the citrus category, Grover believes and the largest growth will continue to come from soft citrus. “Although the UK is one of the lowest consumers of fresh fruit in Europe the government’s 5-a-day campaign has gone a long way to increasing awareness of the importance of eating a fresh healthy diet, but retailers also have a huge part to play in encouraging consumers to eat more fresh produce. Consistency of flavour and taste are vital in encouraging repeat purchases and Budgens’ continued focus on quality and freshness will ensure customer satisfaction.”
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