The latest sales figures show encouraging growth for the exotics sector – but at the sharp end of the trade not everything is quite so rosy.
There has been double-digit value and volume growth over the past year, according to Kantar Worldpanel, with purchase frequency also rising by a healthy seven per cent.
However, as one importer and wholesaler points out, not everything is so positive, with the last couple of months proving a challenge. “You have to remember that we are still in a recession and that is filtering all the way down, even to what we do; most of our end-customers are ethnic shops all around the UK,” he says. “September is always a slow month as the interest in households is in the back-to-school spend, but that slow month continued into October and now we are in November and trade is no better.”
Mango is one of the major lines on the exotics shelf, although the argument goes that it crossed over to the mainstream many years ago. Industry insiders warn that the major problem faced in this sub-sector of the category is the slump in pricing.
One told FPJ: “It doesn’t matter what country the mangoes come from, the FOB price has to be $3 for a standard four-kilo pack; at the moment the UK market is not delivering more than about $2-2.50.
“The supermarkets all want the best product, and to get the best product you have to reject a lot – as much as 30-40 per cent. This is why growers are working extremely hard to increase efficiency. We are not willing to pay for the cream of the crop in the UK, so the crop will go elsewhere.”
In terms of other lines, plantain availability for the UK has been running tight and one industry insider says it is competition from other, stronger markets that is causing the problem. “We source from Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador and our suppliers are telling us that they are sending more product to the US,” he says. “So prices are some 10-15 per cent stronger year on year this quarter.”
Another big influence on the exotics market, particularly the market for speciality vegetable lines, is the push for local produce that restaurateurs and retailers alike are driving. Stuart Carmichael of exotics specialist J Carmichael & Co on Glasgow Fruit Market, which supplies restaurants and foodservice operators in Scotland, said: “We have noticed the whole local thing has influenced people – they don’t necessarily want babycorn on their plates now and if they see cauliflower or broccoli their first perception is it’s local, even if it’s not.
“But there will always be an appetite for something new and exciting. Chefs do want a bit of colour on the plate. Redcurrants and micro-herbs are doing well.”
This notion extends into the exotic fruit category for desserts in particular. Carmichael says: “Passionfruit is a good seller in that respect as it adds a bit of excitement to the menu. Diners will order things in a restaurant that they would not touch in Tesco, but if they are eating out they think ‘I’ll give that a wee go’ and it raises their perception of a restaurant.
“I would say only the brave will pick it up in a supermarket even after they have tried it as a lot of them think only an expert chef will know what to do with it. The very brave will open their Nigella cookbook and use it at their own dinner parties, but what people will do is talk about it, which is what chefs want.”
Adding unusual colours has helped boost the market for variety in melons too. “I think this idea of a bit of colour and something a bit different is why orange-flesh melons such as Cantaloupe are selling well,” Carmichael says. “People want to eat healthier but they don’t just want a boring piece of yellow melon.”
Other lines that are reported to be doing well include fresh figs, which have just hit a gap in supply as the Turkish season comes to an end and Brazil is only just starting up.
Avocado supplies are steady, which Carmichael attributes to the supply chain doing a “good job” getting fruit through to customers in optimal condition and ripeness. —
SUSTAINING THE PINEAPPLE SECTOR
The pineapple industry has suffered from sustainability and worker issues, as well as image problems in the past, but a new body is looking to change all that. Tom Joyce finds out more
he Sustainable Pineapple Alliance (SPA), a new initiative with its roots in the Netherlands, has been launched as a means of addressing the inequalities inherent in the pineapple sector.
According to Dutch organics and sustainable farming specialist Eosta, which is behind the initiative, the SPA has been formed in order to “motivate, stimulate, help and assist stakeholders in the pineapple chain to move towards sustainable pineapples for everybody”. The chief aim of the SPA is to allow all stakeholders in the chain to benefit.
“It is of vital importance for everybody, from those doing the actual planting, nurturing and harvesting, but also for the small-scale farmers, wholesalers, purchasers, supermarkets and small mom & pop businesses, up to the final consumer, that a sustainable and traceable supply chain is created for the product,” Eosta says.
The initial focus of the group will be to put attention on fertility of the soil, an area many organic producers in particular claim must be the starting point of sustainable farming.
“Some of the major stakeholders in the SPA decided that the best way to launch a more sustainable pineapple production was to focus first on improving and maintaining soil fertility and to study smallholder schemes and run pilots, in which rotation-schemes with local cash crops and guaranteed food security are included,” the alliance explains.
“SPA will facilitate those efforts. Tests will be carried out, knowledge gained and shared with partners and members. Following these pilot soil and smallholder schemes, other challenges will be addressed. The final goal of SPA is to launch a platform where the acquired knowledge can be shared with all interested parties.”
Once its tests have been carried out, findings will then be disseminated to all members, Eosta underlined.
The organisation, which is still very much in the formative stages, has launched a website at www.sustainable-pineapple-alliance.org where it names a board headed by Henk Zoutewelle, the product and chain manager at Eosta, as well as Aart van den Bos, the managing partner of Soil & More International, as treasurer.—
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