Do not make tomato assortment too wide

ASDA owns approximately 560 shops in the United Kingdom, 365 of which are hypermarkets. During the Tomato Conference, Bas Tramper of purchasing organisation IPL said that consumers from the UK particularly prefer ‘normal’ loose tomatoes. “Some interest in specialties exists, but it is not growing much. That is remarkable, because this segment is wildly popular in many European countries.”

Tramper continues: “Within the specialty segment, especially cherry tomatoes do well. At one point, we even took cocktail tomatoes out of the assortment, there was so little demand for them. We do not want to make the tomato assortment too wide, so that consumers can make better choices.” The ASDA shops carry three segments: Extra Special, ASDA’s own brand and Smart Price. Tramper expects a further focus on round, flavourful tomatoes in the UK in the coming years.

Tramper works for IPL, International Procurement & Logistics Ltd. This is the purchasing organisation for WalMart retailers, including ASDA. IPL has facilities for different product groups in different places in the UK. Tramper is responsible for the sourcing of fresh produce, and he indicates quality of ASDA products has risen sharply in recent years. “Because IPL has a direct-source model, the number of customer complaints dropped by 65 per cent in the last 15 years. When it comes to quality, ASDA’s scores are the highest of retailers in the UK. By doing Nielsen research, we keep a weekly score.” 

“Besides quality, another great advantage of IPL is that we supply fresh products and have lower costs because we no longer need certain links in the chain. Products go from producer to IPL, and after collecting them in a regional distribution centre they go straight to the shops. IPL looks after the entire fresh logistics from grower to consumer. Sourcing and delivery takes place in several countries. We often export directly from source to buyer. For example, Dutch aubergines recently went to Canada,” according to Tramper.