According to a citrus buyer from the chain, "It is the perfect fruit to take to the beach and we are making sure that consumers know this, which has helped consumption. The easy peelers during the summer are the same varieties they are used to during the winter and the quality is just as good. In the past a lot of buyers were just looking at the prices, but we are no longer working in the spot market and have been buying directly from growers in S. Africa, which has improved quality. Good quality brings good consumption."
Most containers are sentdirectly from South Africa and although the company has bought small quantities from South America, limited to around three containers a week, they said that they like to stick with one country to offer smoother supply. Although, they might look more to other countries in the future if demand continues to increase.
"People don't know much about easy peelers and we have been trying to educate the consumers through our blog, to be able to recognise the difference between the different varieties. We would like to create the same type of situation we have with apples. Just as everyone knows the difference between Gala and Golden Delicious, we would like to have this kind of distinction with easy peelers as well. We are also writing about our growers so that they know more about where the citrus comes from. There has been a big increase in sales over the last two years since we started this campaign." shared the buyer.
The retailer said that the much anticipated Nadercotts arrived in Sweden less than a week ago after the market had experienced a gap. Although there is always a bit of a gap around this time of year, the market was a bit short with clementines compared to other seasons. This was due to the South African season starting earlier than expected which meant that the gap was one week longer than usual. Novas are often sourced to bridge the gap, but they are not very popular in Sweden because they are so difficult to peel. The company had been sourcing Mineolas in the meantime.
"Nadercott sales have been good and our promotion for them will kick in, in 2-3 weeks. We expect to sell good volumes. Nadercotts have seen a good increase in the last few years.