The retailer obsession with price over quality could undermine the healthy eating campaign, a leading buyer has warned.
Gordon Fairbrother, central fruit buyer with Re:fresh Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year, Waitrose, said the industry was in danger of blowing it when it comes to taking advantage of the focus on fruit and vegetable consumption.
“If the major players in the marketplace continue to slug it out on price, what effect is that going to have on quality overall?”
He said all the of the major retailers seem to have been “sucked down” into selling everything on price and the consistency of their quality had suffered.
“Price is only one part of the value equation,” he said. “Waitrose will not compromise on quality at any cost.”
He said with the heavy emphasis on eating fruit and veg, the industry should be focusing on quality and ensuring the eating experience for the consumer is the best one possible.
But simply going for the cheapest will undermine that: “How will all this affect a market that is growing well on the back of the health messages, particularly, if as an industry, we compromise on quality to achieve a price point?
Fairbrother said: “The government is putting a huge emphasis on healthy eating, but the industry could easily blow it by putting substandard product into the market.
“If we can give consumers a great product which offers a fantastic eating experience as well as being good for them, then we’re onto a winner, surely.”
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