Waitrose and tomato supplier Wight Salads have questioned whether these are "Troubled times for tomatoes?”, as reported in last week’s Journal.
“Although the tomato category has dropped by 3.5 per cent in the last quarter when compared with 2003, this was due to the soaring demand the summer heat created in 2003 against a 10 per cent mean temperature drop for July year-on-year,” said Wight Salads commercial manager Rik Connor.
Waitrose, said buyer Claire Burton, has traded through the period and achieved more than eight per cent growth in the same 12 weeks. She added: “We knew that it would be a challenge to match last year's sales, but we had detailed plans in place early on, and the hard work from the category team has paid dividends. British organic tomatoes are up 30 per cent on 2003 - I would not term that a rocky patch.”
This growth is not driven from the new store programme, as that will not take effect for a while, said Burton, but through clear strategy of supporting UK growers at every opportunity. Sales for British tomatoes have been "fantastic" this year, with new records for the retailer being registered on almost every variety.
In the last two weeks, volumes have been in excess of 25 per cent more than last year. "More consumers are realising that the quality and flavour attributed to home grown product outweighs the price differential,” said Connor, “so the Polish issue raised by William Church has had a positive effect for us. In fact we may see a reversal by other retailers in moving back to complimenting their British fruit with imported during the summer, rather than their current strategy based mainly on price rather than provenance."
He added: “Being British is not enough for Waitrose, so varietal selection has been paramount to the success of the British tomato category. This has worked successfully this season with further new glass being built for next season, specifically to supply the new store programme's volume.”
The support Waitrose has given UK growers has instilled the necessary confidence in growers to embark on big capital expenditure programmes, he said.
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