It’s all go for the soft-fruit category now that the major players are gearing up for a second round of volumes, on the back of strong market growth and higher prices than last year.
The sector has come through a tricky month that saw supplies tighten, but growers and suppliers are quick to warn that they will need better returns in order to safeguard their long-term future.
Kantar Worldpanel figures for the 52 weeks to 10 July show that the category has jumped in both value and volume, up 14.9 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively after an early start saw the category race ahead.
The best performers were the discounters led by Aldi, while premium retailers Marks & Spencer and Waitrose have picked up share. All the major retailers saw growth year on year.
The supermarkets have got behind the category with TV and newspaper advertising, significant shelf space and the introduction of promotions, most notably multi-buy deals and free pots of cream with a purchase.
In the last 10 days, the multiples have started switching from half-price to two-for-£3 offers to keep fruit moving.
Ian Waller, managing director of Total Berry, maintains that this season is shaping up well but insists that “growers could always use an increase in prices to offset the continuing rise in the cost of production”.
This is particularly important in Scotland this season, where growers were hit by 100mph winds that ripped through polytunnels and needed to employ considerable labour to repair the damage.
Yield losses north of the border have averaged around 15-20 per cent, with some growers losing up to 100 per cent, depending on the crop and area.
One Scottish supplier admits that the last month has been a “struggle”, with much lower yields than expected. “We have been short as a country at a time when Scotland would be supplying a large proportion of UK requirements,” he says.
As a result, the market has tightened up over the last four weeks but it has managed to achieve a sense of balance, especially when the drop in availability coincided with colder temperatures so that supply and demand have remained in line.
The industry is about to see an uplift in production and if the weather continues to improve, the situation should remain stable.
“I think that the early season and the excellent quality of fruit has helped to drive repeat purchases from consumers,” says Waller. “The UK soft-fruit market is in a good state at the moment, investment in breeding programmes has never been higher and the ongoing work of the Seasonal Berries campaign continues to raise awareness and keeps the whole soft-fruit category in the public eye.
“I think we have to be constantly aware of the ongoing economic situation and the increasing pressure on the growers producing our crops and ensure that there is a fair return to stimulate further investment in the future,” he adds.
In fact, prices have improved on last year but the sector is warning that they have not yet reached the necessary levels.
“The prices last season were poorer than they should have been,” says one Scottish grower. “The increased price this year is not enough to cover the reduced yields and the net position is poorer than you would expect. A lot of crops will be loss-making.”
But the leading sub-categories have shown promising growth as the sector continues to grow ahead of the fruit market.
The latest Kantar Worldpanel data shows a near double increase for the UK strawberry market in the last three months, which reflects the advanced season and increased availability early on. This comes even in the face of significant hurdles including frost damage in December last year and the situation in Scotland.
The UK raspberry season hit its peak two weeks earlier than usual this month and helped plug a gap in strawberry availability when sunshine fuelled sales.
Home-grown blueberries have so far seen an 85 per cent volume boost on last year and even though the market’s growth has slowed, it is still up by 15.3 per cent over the last 12 months.
Berry Gardens managing director Nick Marston has singled out premium retailers Marks & Spencer and Waitrose for supporting UK blueberries with an “all-British offer in season, which they will largely achieve this year”.
“I am sure other retailers will follow suit and prioritise British fruit in the future,” he says.
Watch this space.
SOFT FRUIT TAKES ON TWITTER
The soft-fruit category is one of the most dynamic when it comes to marketing. Anna Sbuttoni talks to Hargreaves Plants managing director Rupert Hargreaves about his move into Twitter and social media
Why did you set up social media presence Berry Buddies?
We set up our Twitter account,
@BerryBuddies, in January after we reviewed our marketing strategy and took the view that the future is all about internet marketing and social media. We engaged with a number of people and organisations to help us determine a strategy that resulted in a complete rebuild of our website and the introduction of YouTube, LinkedIn and then the social media platforms, namely Facebook and Twitter. The YouTube and LinkedIn channels have been branded under the Hargreaves Plants banner, which is of course a business-to-business company.
The “buddies” brands -@BerryBuddies and @AsparaBuddies - were developed as business-to-consumer brands and are useful tools to raise awareness of the varieties and brands that we represent globally.
What have you gained from your presence on Twitter?
We have gained a great deal from Twitter but it is a big investment in time and you need a clearly defined strategy to benefit. We would have to give credit to Carol Ford, who tweets as @GrowingDirect, who helped us develop the whole brand. Twitter is the platform to engage with the general public but also forward-thinking companies, retailers, chefs, garden writers and key business influencers.
How can the produce industry communicate better with consumers through this type of social media?
The industry can communicate much better than it currently is. We have products that are of great interest to the general public so let’s talk about it, raise awareness and engage. If you look at the statistics of people engaging not just on Twitter, but on www.facebook.com/berrybuddies, www.youtube.com/hargreavesplants and through LinkedIn, they are huge. Each one of these social media outlets serves a different purpose and engages with a different sector.
Make sure you engage with social media to keep up to speed with all things new. Paper and postage is a thing of the past, too slow for the modern world.
What projects are you working on?
We are continuing to invest and build our web and social media presence. The aim is be on the first page of the Google rankings for all of our products. To help us achieve this, we have just launched 38 websites, one for each of our keys brands and varieties. These are all being interlinked to www.hargreavesplants.com and LinkedIn. YouTube clips are being added to these as well as technical data, photographs and international contacts and partners. These are important to support the breeders that our intellectual property department represents around the world.
Which new varieties are ones to watch out for?
There are many new and exciting varieties that we are bringing to market at present, all in various stages of development. The ones of major excitement are Elegance, Portola, Finesse and Buddy strawberries; Tadmor, Chemianus, Erika raspberries; Ouchita and Reuben Natchez blackberries; Liberty and Draper blueberries, as well as Mondeo, Guelph Millennium and Early California asparagus. If you search the internet for them, you may even find they all have their own websites.
How is the soft-fruit market shaping up this year?
The soft-fruit season this year has been challenging from a weather perspective, with some areas having a more difficult season so far than others. Generally speaking though, the market is a little more confident than other years. Certainly, the development of new varieties is helping the marketplace from grower to consumer.
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