With the weather these days about as predictable as Lady Gaga's wardrobe, you'd be forgiven for anticipating a drop in soft-fruit sales, but with value up by
£18.2 million for the 52 weeks to 2 September, the category continues to perform resiliently.
Volume sales rose 6.8 per cent, or 8,800 tonnes, over last year, while strawberries and blueberries are growing at a faster rate than the overall category.
That's not to say it's been plain sailing though. John Gray, commercial director at supermarket supplier Angus Soft Fruits (ASF), points out this year's strawberry sales were lower than usual during the key Wimbledon fortnight.
'Soft-fruit sales were very poor against last year through the traditional peak Wimbledon period, and we've seen deflation through most of the summer,' says Gray.
And despite a strong year for Angus Soft Fruits, with the producer doubling the tonnage of its strawberry variety Islay and achieving 40 per cent growth in sales of its pesticide residue-free Good Natured strawberries, Gray has a lot of sympathy for growers. 'I think from a growers' perspective it's been the worst summer for many years, with net returns under a lot of pressure and in many cases negative.'
On the supermarket front, Morrisons has outperformed its total grocery share by 0.8 percentage points, with a 12.1 per cent grip of the soft-fruit market, and the retailer believes customer loyalty has helped to maintain its success.
'By maintaining a fresh product with a consistent price point throughout the season, our customers have continued to purchase berries throughout the summer regardless of the weather,' explains producer buyer Glenn Cooper.
Similarly, Sainsbury's has also performed positively, with a 17.5 per cent hold of the soft-fruit market, outperforming its total grocery share by 2.5 points, and its blueberries buyer Ian Cambridge believes forward planning has been crucial.
'Being able to offer British blueberries in Sainsbury's stores months earlier than previous seasons is another example of where we work closely with our growers, and it is all about working around the British weather to utilise the crop when it tastes its best,' says Cambridge.
Meanwhile The Co-operative is switching all of its winter blueberries to Fairtrade by 25 November as part of the chain's Ethical Plan, which aims to achieve 90 per cent Fairtrade-listed fresh produce by the end of 2013.
'Having launched the world's first fresh Fairtrade blueberries from Blue Mountain in South Africa, I think it is great that all of our winter blueberries will now be Fairtrade,' says Brad Hill, Fairtrade strategy manager at The Co-operative Food.
Despite the noted success of strawberries and blueberries, raspberry sales have been underwhelming, and ASF's Gray isn't surprised.
'Raspberries have suffered from volatile availability over the past two seasons, particularly in the winter, which has led to price volatility which hasn't helped.'
However, Morrisons says it made a breakthrough on raspberry sales. 'We've managed to buck the trend on raspberry sales this year as we have seen good growth in that category. We put this down to being consistent in our quality and offer, which gives our customers the confidence to put it on their shopping list,' says Cooper.
Morrisons will continue its raspberry momentum into the winter months with the launch of a new variety. 'This winter we have an exciting new raspberry variety called Kwanza, which is exclusive to Morrisons and will deliver a larger fruit with a fantastic flavour.'
Looking ahead, Laurence Olins, chairman of British Summer Fruits, believes utilising the success of the London Games could help to improve soft-fruit sales. This year's Winter Berries campaign will feature recipes from two-time gold medallist Mo Farah's nutritionist, Matt Lovell.
Overall, future confidence is largely pegged to what happens in the skies. Gray concludes: 'If the sun shines consistently in 2013 then we'll see positive growth, it's that simple.' —
WOULD YOU ADAM AND EVE IT?
Unlike apples, British shoppers struggle to name strawberry varieties – but producers believe Sweet Eve can change all that. Thomas Hobbs reports
Although a consistent favourite fruit with the British consumer, 97 per cent of the public still can't name a single strawberry variety, according to research from the producers of Sweet Eve.
In comparison, a staggering 90 per cent of the 3,000-plus respondents managed to name at least one apple variety. As a result, Sweet Eve grower Pete Vinson believes there is untapped potential for strawberry varieties to be better promoted.
Vinson hopes Sweet Eve's juicy flavour can make its name more memorable in the same way Gala and Braeburn are instantly associated with apples.
'Good flavour, as far as the consumer is concerned, is largely to do with high sugar, low acid and a good aroma; we want to meet their needs,' says Vinson.
Orange-red in colour, Sweet Eve strawberries keep for around three days in the fridge and despite being commercially grown have the aroma and flavour of wild varieties.
Vinson adds: 'They are also picked when fully ripe so it stands to reason they will taste better and we've developed Sweet Eve to provide a 'wow' experience not consistently found in commercially available strawberries.'
With its season running from June to October, the British-bred Sweet Eve variety reached the shelves almost two years ago after a 25-year breeding process, and Vinson believes the variety's promotional campaign has helped to educate buyers on the variety.
You don't need to be a new-age Don Draper to know online campaigns are now part and parcel of advertising and Sweet Eve marketer BerryWorld believes a strong mix of online recipes and social network appearances has helped establish Sweet Eve as an instantly recognisable variety among the soft-fruit industry.
'Sweet Eve was introduced to the market as a superior tasting strawberry, yet we did not have the benefit of using a retailer tier brand to highlight Sweet Eve's superior flavour,' explains Adam Olins, managing director of BerryWorld.
He adds: 'For that reason, we decided to raise customer awareness and build brand loyalty within the standard tier by branding the variety, using various mediums including on-pack logos, videos, social media and a dedicated website.'
Olins claims the variety is now one of the fastest growing in the industry, with retail sales currently over £50 million, and he believes Sweet Eve's promotional campaign has proven that British shoppers do still want to learn about strawberry varieties. 'The campaign has been received positively by our suppliers, customers and consumers and we will continue to back our proprietary varieties with brand support.'
Sweet Eve strawberries are available to buy in Booths, The Co-operative, Marks & Spencer, Ocado, Tesco and Waitrose. —
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