Showing a 5.4 per cent growth year on year, the prepared fruit and vegetable category is not one to be sniffed at, standing tall and worth £909m - up £46.2m on last year.
After the success of Maritime Foods’ rapid cook Carolina Sun sweet potato, prepared potatoes are in the spotlight, showing that there is more convenience to the vegetable than just chips. Beetroot is the star of the prepared salad stage, with strong growth in shredded and Julienne raw beetroot becoming part of the everyday prepared salad mix. And prepared bite-sized pieces of coconut are the latest fruit snack on the go.
Overtrading in the prepared produce arena substantially, retailer Marks & Spencer is an industry leader and has launched 10 fresh convenience lines under the Lovely Vegetables banner. The new offer, which is aimed at consumers who wish to increase their intake of vegetables, contains a minimum of two of the recommended 5 A DAY.
Also, cashing in on the seasonal push, British vegetables will be used where possible, with new dishes introduced depending on the season.
The lines include beetroot multigrain risotto with goats cheese, roast honey glazed parsnips and red chard, and grilled halloumi with roast butternut squash, Tenderstem broccoli, mixed grain pilaf and smokey red pepper and tomato sauce.
Beetroot is also causing a stir at Waitrose, with sales of beetroot juice rising by 82 per cent in the past year. This sharp rise in popularity is outpacing the growth in sales of orange juice and other more traditional juices.
Prepared beetroot sales in Waitrose are also up - 22 per cent when compared to the previous year.
Waitrose buyer Neil Whelpton says the retailer had sold juice made from the root vegetable since 2006, but in the past six months noticed a jump in customer demand.
“Once just the preserve of pickles, beetroot is now the ‘veg-du-jour,” says Whelpton.
One prepared salad and stirfry supplier agrees. “Our Bistro packs with beetroot in them have seen strong growth and are outperforming their sector,” he says. “This is something that has happened over the last year and although it is obviously not a new product there is something of a resurgence for it in the market.”
Asda will also see fresh produce innovation on its shelves this year courtesy of supplier QV Foods, which is set to launch a new microwavable potato pack as part of the Inspire range.
Inspire Micro Cook potato packs, which will be sold exclusively by the retailer, will use special steam vents to cook the potatoes in the bag in six minutes. The potatoes can still be decanted from the bag into a pan and cooked on the hob in the traditional way, providing both choice and convenience.
Simon Martin, QV Foods sales and marketing director, said: “Our consumer research tells us that potatoes unjustifiably suffer from a perception of being less convenient than competing carbs such as rice and pasta. There are also a lot of shoppers who are looking for smaller pack sizes that are ideal for one meal occasion. This pack is intended to address these needs. We have deliberately opted for a design that overtly shouts convenience and a pack size (at 375g) that means the potatoes can be consumed in one sitting.
“We are really excited by this piece of new product development and are looking forward to kicking off our Inspire campaign for 2011 with a bang.”
And, as the country comes out of recession, consumers are looking for more premium products, such as different kinds of baby leaf.
“Salads is really buoyant at the moment and baby leaf is more in demand than the sweet or crunchy mixes,” says one insider. “It does depend on the retailer though, of course. And some retailers have made more room on the shelves for more premium salad and stirfry packs. But there has been more interest in the last quarter, no doubt about it.
“Innovation-wise we are looking to do more salad kits, but it is hard getting consumers and retailers out of the fail-safe Caeser salad option and anything new still doesn’t sell. It is still difficult to get product to stick in the retailers.”
FLORETTE WEIGHS IN WITH NEW CAMPAIGN TARGETING SLIMMERS
Playing on consumers’ inevitable New Year’s resolutions list, prepared produce specialist Florette is sprinting out of the blocks in 2011 with a major health and fitness-themed campaign. Elizabeth O’Keefe finds out more.
Starting promptly on January 1, Florette is making the most of the obligatory health drive with a campaign that blends heavyweight national press spend with online advertising and promotions.
Designed to reach 15 million consumers, the campaign will include a multi-channel partnership with the ever-influential Weight Watchers magazine and Weight Watchers online, with money-off vouchers to engage with the value and health-hungry consumer.
“The Florette brand has a strong track record of marketing investment - having spent in the region of £8m over the last three years - that engages with existing consumers, as well as attracting significant new category users,” says Florette marketing manager Elaine Smith.
“We will be hitting the tough times head on in 2011 by rolling out our biggest marketing spend to date, to stimulate sales and category growth.”
National press adverts will create impact across The Sun, Daily Mail and Mirror, promoting discounts on Florette Crispy and Mixed salads, and the campaign has also been designed to maximise the growing popularity of online grocery shopping - something that really plays to the quality and shelf-life strengths of the product.
“When consumers buy from the online fresh fruit and vegetable aisle they want to be sure that the product arrives in as fresh a condition as if they had chosen it from the shelf themselves, together with the knowledge that it will go the freshness distance,” adds Smith.
“Times will be tough for another 12 months as consumers remain cautious and focus on saving rather than spending. More tightening of purse strings will inevitably mean consumers demanding more than ever from their fresh food options.”
Florette says it is confident that the Fresh New You campaign will give the brand a powerful presence during the key New Year selling period, supporting its portfolio by leveraging the seasonal appetite for health and wellbeing.
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