"It's actually quite hard not to be enthusiastic about fruit and vegetables. There is information available on how healthy the products are. It's proven. Everyone is talking about superfoods these days. Fruit and veg is a trend, more and more people are looking for natural products. Consumers know what's good for them. Unfortunately they don't always act on it. That is the challenge for the fruit and vegetable sector," says Professor David Hughes of Imperial College during the collective Freshfel and Profel event.
Warning
He warns that other large players who aren't from the sector are taking the opportunities that the fruit and vegetable sector is missing at the moment. Big Food is in trouble and if we don't watch out they'll steal the shirts off our backs! We have to take chances before it's too late," He named various examples such as General Mills, Pepsico, Coca Cola and other innovative companies such as Farmhouse Culture or Bolthouse Farms. They are introducing new products based on fruit and vegetables. The fruit and vegetable sector better watch out, as these kinds of companies know how to play the consumers. They are good at what they do. The fruit and vegetable sector is good at producing, but less good at understanding the consumer. We have to know what's going on and play into the trends!" He indicated that there are fruit and veg companies that are innovating. "Take Florette, Dole and Zespri for example: they play into the salad, snack and health trends. Another example is Body&Brains from the Netherlands, who are active in the berry business and indicate how good these products are for the 'brains'. The sector has to do this much more. We have to shout about great fruit and veg are!"
Vegetables expensive?
He indicates that the consumer perception is the vegetables are expensive. "But it's how you look at it. For a Starbucks latte - that they often buy - people could pay just as little as for 500 grams of apricots. It also depends on how we present it. We have to communicate that fruit and veg are very affordable!"
Spiralisers
David mentioned a lot of trends, including kale. "Kale, kale, kale. It's everywhere these days. In snacks, in crisps and as an ingredient. They used to feed it to cows, now it's a trend. Other vegetable crisps are also gaining popularity. An example of a supplier is Nim's." Another trend that stood out for him were spiralisers and spiral vegetables. "A great transformation from traditional vegetables. Consumers are looking for meal solutions now. We have history in which our food, including fruit and veg, created a problem. Now we have to find a solution."
Soft fruit
Soft fruit is totally hot in the UK. "Blueberries, raspberries, red currants, strawberries: people can't get enough of them. That market is booming! In 2005 soft fruit, or fresh berries, had a share of 12% in the total volume of fruit and vegetables. In 2016, 11 years later, it is 22%. Nowadays some supermarkets view it as a separate segment. So they have fruit and berries. What is striking is that young adults don't buy much soft fruit. Has this target audience been approached enough?" He sees a lot of companies using 'berries' in advertising, including non fruit and vegetable companies. "For health insurance or for a dating site for vegans: www.veggieromance.com. This way berries will become even more known!" Avocado is also a growing product. "The avocado is very popular and is presented in many different ways - from avocado sushi to frozen or mini avocados." He also believes we will see the convenience trend in more products. "Onions are now available sliced. That's logical, who still cuts an onion?"
Half meat, half vegetables
He indicated that in certain countries like the Netherlands a lot of meat is eaten. "In the UK they are very active in trying to decrease to meat consumption. Tesco, for instance, has meatballs without meat. There are also those who want to eat less meat, the flexitarians. Debbie & Andrews, a meat producing company recently introduces the meat in Flexilicious, in which vegetables are also processed. The 'healthier sausage' isn't 100% meat and is nicely presented. Vegetables are also processed into MOR sausages. Asda recently introduced the Lean & Bean Mince, a mix in which meat and vegetables are combined. It sells. It sells very well!"