"The avocado is one of the most popular products in the Swedish Fruit & Veg department. Avocado demand continues to increase and is very popular in Sweden. We have the 4th highest consumption in Europe. For ICA it is our 7th largest category and we have doubled our sales in 10 years," shared Maria Wieloch from ICA.
High demand in other markets have caused prices to rise, but Maria said that this hasn't had a significant effect on Swedish buying, although more consumers tend to go for loose avocados compared to packed due to the lower price point.
ICA's main avocado suppliers are Spain, Israel and Chile during the winter months, followed by Peru and South Africa during the spring/summer. Despite there being a gap period, which can bring some quality issues, the retailer said that they have not seen an increase in complaints.
Last spring, ICA announced a campaign to use laser labelling for some of their organic fruits, including avocados. When asked how this campaign was going, Maria confirmed; "Unfortunately we have stopped the laser labelling program for avocados. The mark on the avocado was sometime hard to read and was not visible enough for the cashiers, who sometimes rang up organic avocados as conventional, which is not optimal for order forecasts. We are continuing with the laser programs for other products, such as sweet potatoes and kiwi, and have been seeing some nice results."
For more information:
Maria Wieloch
ICA Sverige AB
Tel: +46 (0)768 – 03 10 49
Fax: +46 (0)42 – 39 18 69
Maria.wieloch@ica.se
www.ica.se