It’s an interesting concept isn’t it? - creating a PR campaign that aims to add value to your existing volume of fruit, rather than push additional volume through stores at promotional prices (p1 lead article).

I suppose it could be argued that the buzz around adding value in the last three or four years has been an attempt to increase the profit margins on some products. But a baby carrot, multi-leaf bag of lettuce or pre-packed banana are still relatively new propositions on the shelves and they are already seeing the margins sucked out of them.

While the market has descended into its unnecessary obsession with price cutting, the desire to take a product and promote it with the expressed aim of increasing its on-shelf price has become an alien concept. Why should South African Golden Delicious, which costs around £2 a carton more to ship to the UK than French, be shoved on shelf at the same price, leaving the supply chain to bear the cost burden while the retailer retains a steady margin?

It is time to let those that add value reap the benefits, or accept that consumer-facing innovation becomes a thing of the past.

• On behalf of the FPJ team, thanks to everyone we encountered either on our stand and around the halls of Fruit Logistica, or in the bars of Berlin. There were nine of us out there and we hope you had as fruitful a time as we did.

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