Australia lags behind the UK and the US when it comes to the fresh-cut fruit offering, but one company looking to bridge that gap is Perfection Fresh.
International trends towards healthy eating, convenience and snacking are driving fresh-cut uptake around the world, says Perfection Fresh’s John Simonetta, who sees the same grounds for growth in Australia.
Perfection launched fresh-cut fruit salads around four years ago, and the product range has achieved fairly extensive distribution, now stocked in around 200 Woolworths stores. But the marketer has recently introduced a revamped range under the iLove brand featuring new sizes and mixes.
Under the new iLove range, Perfection has developed what it describes as more customer-friendly pack sizes. “Originally, we had two packaging options – the 300g and the 500g pack. But we have replaced the 300g pack with a 210g pack, which retails for A$3.50 and is a more convenient single-serve,” Simonetta told Produce Plus.
Similarly, Perfection expects its new 400g pack, priced at A$5 each, to better serve couples (or two people) than a 500g pack. The new 400g flat-pack also prevents layering of the fruit, thereby helping to maintain quality and shelf-life. “The single-layer pack means you don’t get pressure on the fruit, so it displays better and allows a better eating experience for the consumer,” said Simonetta.
In addition to changing the packaging, Perfection has upgraded the product mixes and introduced three new lines.
As well as straight pineapple, watermelon and rockmelon options, the product range includes fruit trios (rock melon, honeydew and blueberries) and a deluxe offer featuring kiwifruit, strawberries and blueberries. The fruit salad has also been revamped to include strawberries.
In addition, Perfection has introduced a Fruit Slices Trio in 600g packs with new packaging designed to protect the slices and reduce the chance of leakage. “If you’re stretch-wrapping slices, the juice can weaken the seal, but this is similar to a skin pack that hugs the fruit and prevents leakage without damaging it,” said Simonetta.
The iLove range is initially available in 26 Woolworths stores for a 12-week trial programme. The stores span different 'tiers', such as premium, mainstream and even convenience-style outlets.
Perfection Fresh has invested heavily in upgrading and expanding its prepared produce processing operations at its Homebush headquarters. “Twelve months ago, we extended our packing facility for high-care produce to 2,000m2, from 600m2 previously,” said Simonetta. “We also invested in machinery to improve the lines for cutting and processing and we now have the capacity to pack 50,000 punnets a day.
One of the main drivers of the investment was to install dedicated lines to minimise product handling. “All our cutting and peeling is automated now, but we still pack the fruit into punnets by hand as the automated systems are too harsh on the fruit.'
