A varied summer of weather hasn’t daunted the leafy salad category, which has enjoyed a recent surge in both value and volume sales, up 6.6 and 3.6 per cent respectively [Kantar, 52 w/e 13 August 2017].
The trend for shopping little and often is one of the biggest drivers of this growth, with bagged mixed salads and bowls doing particularly well, while the trend for superfoods continues to boost mineral-rich leaves such as watercress.
Following a shaky start to the year due to weather issues in Spain, low temperatures and light levels made for challenging growing conditions during the rest of the year in salads, says Vitacress head of marketing, Tony Reid.
“Demand has varied greatly over the summer. When it has been sunny and warm, consumers have rushed to have the full summer experience but, as you might expect, there’s generally a drop off when it rains,” he says. “Spinach is a notable exception to that rule and tends to do well when the sun disappears.”
Little Gem is another subcategory that outperforms in cooler weather, says G’s marketing director Anthony Gardiner. “We have seen solid sales on Little Gem, which always tends to sell better in an unseasonably cooler summer and is also more consumer friendly in warm eating salads,” he explains. “The last six weeks have seen more challenging customer demand conditions, as the weather is significantly cooler than it was a year ago, leading to consumer demand being suppressed.”
Plans at G’s are well underway for the winter, confirms Gardiner, despite some concerns around water availability due to the closure of the Trans Vasis network in Spain.
“The category is in a strong position and has achieved 2.2 per cent growth in the year to date, despite a difficult start to the year due to poor weather conditions,” says Florette category controller, Polly Davies. “Consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious and are looking to lead cleaner lifestyles, with the ‘strong not skinny’ ethos taking the world of social media by storm. This is being reflected in shoppers’ agendas – three in 10 under-25s have tried to adopt a ‘clean eating’ diet, with 40 per cent of adults stating they would consider this type of eating in the future.”
NPD in the category remains upbeat, and Reid notes there is an increased focus on side salads. “There have been a number of exciting developments in the salads category this year, including a great deal of focus on side salads, the inclusion of increasingly more diverse vegetables, the rise of edible flowers; and superfoods continue to be in the spotlight, with watercress, for example, attracting lots of attention,” he explains.
Tom Amery, MD of The Watercress Company, says sales are growing across the different sectors of the business. “We have seen a significant increase in foodservice demand while retail sales are bouncing back following a period of lower growth,” he says. “There are definite changes in approach to diet in the UK. Those adopting vegan or flexitarian diets are increasing so leafy salads like watercress that contain many vital vitamins and minerals are a key element of their diet. Juices and healthy smoothies continue to be popular and again watercress is increasingly being used as an ingredient.”
While suppliers report that retail pressure on salad prices has reduced, the shadow of Brexit continues to make life difficult, especially for those preparing for the upcoming import season. Davies says the average price of a bag of salad is currently £1.16, and she is confident of further value growth in the category.
“The leafy prepared salad category value has increased to almost £700 million, with almost 600m bags of salad sold per year and this looks set to continue,” she says.
