Convenience singles out the most popular fruit and vegetables in UK
Fruit Consumption Volume 2012 (‘000 metric tons)
The most popular fruits in the UK are bananas, apples, oranges and grapes. There is a marked preference for food that is perceived as convenient to eat; that is, easily peeled and with a minimum of juice and pips or stones. Within citrus fruit, for example, easy peeling varieties continue to show volume growth, while more traditional varieties like Navel oranges have seen a dip in demand. Soft fruit is also popular, particularly blueberries, mostly due to greatly improved availability and the appeal of their high anti-oxidant content to health conscious consumers. This is mentioned in a report from PMA.
Vegetable Consumption Volume 2012 (‘000 metric tons)
As for vegetables, the most demanded are potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots and brassicas, with salad vegetables becoming increasingly important. Again, there is a marked trend for convenience, with retailers offering a wide selection of ready-made products.
Fresh still more important than processed
Approximately 70% of all vegetable purchases and 66% of all fruit purchases are fresh. A decline in consumption of fresh produce over the review period was offset by resilient demand for processed products; consumers responded strongly to convenience and product development. However, fresh volumes still dominate retail sales.
Modern retail dominates a saturated market
In value terms, modern grocery retailers, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, discounters, convenience stores and forecourt retailers, dominated the UK market with an 88% share in 2012.
Traditional grocery retail is shrinking in the UK, as traditional grocery retailers are struggling to compete with the low price points and promotions of supermarkets. As recessionary concerns rumble on, consumers become much more price conscious.
Furthermore, some big retailers are shifting into convenience stores. Tesco Metro, Sainsbury’s Local, M Local and Little Waitrose are rapidly popping up throughout the UK, offering a broader range of products and proving to be more appealing to shoppers than traditional grocery retailers.
Anecdotally, there has been a rise in middle class consumers trading down to the discount channel for at least some of their weekly shop. As a result, price pressure on growers and other parts of the supply chain has increased, inhibiting price development.
Online shopping expansion also driven by convenience
Internet grocery retailing is growing strongly in the UK market, as consumers continue to seek convenience. Online shopping has increased rapidly, as many shoppers enjoy the wide variety of choice, specials and brands delivered to their homes.
Nevertheless, UK consumers continue to have more trust in store-based retailers. Consumers feel more comfortable making online purchases from store-based retailers, as they believe that the return process will be less problematic.
Trends in foodservice tailing retail with strong appetite for novelty
The foodservice market in the UK’s major cities is saturated, with a high number of chained players, but also independents. Overall sales are stagnant at best. However, in line with the greater consumer sophistication that the expansion of offer in the supermarkets has wrought, there is a strong consumer appetite for novelty in foodservice, and good response to new products.
This means greater use of fresh produce, as well as the use of a broader range of cuisines. Chains like Wahaca (Mexican food), Itsu (Japanese/fusion) and Leon (Modern British and international) all offer premium positioned fast food that is far healthier than the traditional sandwich or pie eaten by office workers in the UK, the largest consumers of foodservice.
High proportion of fresh produce locally grown
An extensive range of fruit and vegetables is produced in the UK on a commercial scale. Investment in new fresh produce varieties and production techniques has allowed for the cultivation of products that were previously sourced only by import, including chillies, melons and cranberries.
Many fruit and vegetables are not grown in the UK for climatic reasons. However, the sophistication of the supply chain managed by the retail networks ensures that more or less any existing fruit or vegetable is imported.
The UK imports around 30% of fresh produce every year and the government is working to reduce reliance on imports. Its “Fruit and Vegetables Task Force” has set a target of producing 73% of indigenous vegetables and 50% of indigenous fruit by 2015.
Imports still key to much of the market
Technical advances in local production have extended growing seasons and there is a government strategy to increase the UK producers’ share of the market.
In any case, considerable opportunities are still present for UK importers, as a large number of important products cannot yet be produced commercially. These include bananas, table grapes, citrus fruit in all its variations, peaches, pineapples and other ‘exotic’ fruits that have become more important in the UK as consumer tastes change and major retail chains compete on offer.
EU expansion likely to increase imports from EU
Importers from within the EU have obvious advantages, as the EU is a free traded area for its member states. The most important factor, however, is the product itself and its lifespan. Citrus fruit, for example, stores well but melons need to be on the shelf within 4 days of packing.
EU membership is likely to become the key driver of import expansion in the UK, as in addition to all the countries that have joined the Union since 2004, at the moment, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are official candidates, with the latter three undergoing membership talks. Should they succeed, imports from these markets would naturally increase.
Source: PMA