Sainsbury’s has unveiled a new ‘Veg Butcher’ pop-up in one of its London stores to show shoppers how to use vegetables in everyday meals.
Food writer and veg artist Amber Locke is in position today (16 June) at the retailer’s Wandsworth superstore, south London, at a new veg counter, which will be open until this Saturday (18 June).
Locke, author of the Raw Vegan Blonde cookbook, will demonstrate veg prep from ‘root to tip’ with staple vegetables such as prepare carrots, broccoli and cucumbers, as well as less familiar products like beetroot and parsnip, Sainsbury’s said.
She will use more than six different techniques, including ribbon cut, spiralised, mandolin sliced, wave-cut and julienne, and shoppers can take their purchased loose vegetables to the counter for a preparation of their choice (or to be inspired by a new way to cook them) at no additional cost.
To coincide with the pop-up, Sainsbury’s released sales figures for core produce lines including avocado (up 147 per cent), asparagus spears (118 per cent), broccoli (up 40 per cent), courgettes (up 30 per cent) and bunched beetroot (up 25 per cent). Total Sainsbury’s vegetables sales are up six per cent on last year.
Of those who have bought at least one new variety of vegetable this year, sweet potato (40 per cent), kale (36 per cent), avocado (19 per cent) and asparagus (19 per cent) topped their choices, the survey found.
The data, which was provided by research provider OnePoll and surveyed 2,000 UK shoppers throughout 2016, concluded that “vegetables are becoming more central to British eating”.
Two thirds (68 per cent) of British households are now eating at least one vegetarian meal a week, even if they are meat-eaters, the research found. Families are also increasingly turning to carb-alternatives with new Sainsbury’s products ‘courgetti’ and ‘boodles’ selling an average of nearly 30,000 units per week since their launch in January 2016.
Locke said: “I’ve been trying to use vegetables in an exciting and inspiring way for years but I know it’s new for a lot of people who are used to the traditional ways of cutting up and cooking courgette, carrot and broccoli.
“I have a passion for showing people how fun and delicious vegetables can be and, more importantly, how you can avoid wasting parts of them that may seem unusable.”
Georgina Lunn, product developer for fresh produce at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are always looking for new and interesting ways to inspire our customers. The innovative new products we’ve recently introduced to the prepared vegetable category, such as courgetti and beetroot rice, have been really popular, so we love the idea of an in-store Vegetable Butcher, to build on this success and hope it will be well-received by our shoppers too.”
