"Given all the raw material price increases, it’s been quite a challenging time," is how Jantine Heemskerk answers when asked about how the sector is faring. She is from Heemskerk fresh & easy, a Dutch company that focuses on washing, slicing, and packaging fresh fruit, vegetables, salads, and fresh packs.
Jantine adds that the changing weather conditions increasingly impact fruits and vegetable availability. "It's not entirely new because, with fresh products, there's often something going on somewhere. But how often it happens and how much produce it affects is on the rise."
Jantine Heemskerk
Processed fruit and vegetables do not have a bleak future, though, Jantine says, if only because nutrition is going to play an increasingly vital role in the pursuit of health. "That will only become more crucial, and plenty of opportunities remain. Fruit and vegetables' importance - and their convenience - is growing. Nutrition plays a role in aspects like healthcare costs and mental well-being. I foresee that, even though people still aren’t nearly eating the recommended daily amount, that's where our opportunities for convenience ultimately lie," she says.
Physical, mental convenience
Here, Jantine distinguishes between mental convenience - offering solutions to wondering how to eat healthy - and physical convenience - where products are pre-washed and sliced or assembled. "In the past few years, we've seen those product groups where, particularly, mental convenience has been added, like meal salads and fresh packs, have grown tremendously. That's where a genuine consumer need lies. People want help making tasty choices."
That, above all, is also important, Jantine points out. "Ultimately, it's all about healthy eating, but that must be combined with flavor. It's unsustainable to try to eat healthy but tasteless food day in and day out. The trick is to combine those and show that eating healthy is truly delicious and easy."
"In the end, it's about offering products that shoppers like," says Jantine, adding that consumers are eating more and more varied foods and that flavor profiles are also changing. "Instead of, for instance, a regular tomato soup, there's now carrot tomato or tomato parsnip soups. So you can add variety to even a relatively simple, familiar product. People also eat other world dishes. Many people cook with, say, coconut milk. There are definite shifts."
Moving between product groups
Heemskerk also sees people increasingly making budget decisions, leading to some movement between product groups. Yet, that, too, offers opportunities. "That benefits standard, low-priced products. We have a broad product range, from meal salads and fresh produce packages, which are quite pricey, to things like soup vegetables or sliced endive, which are relatively inexpensive," she explains.
Here, Heemskerk fresh & easy tries to give its customers the correct advice, as far as possible, about, for instance, promotional products, which they can display more prominently, and shopper communication. Jantine mentions, for example, fresh food packages that are considered expensive but not badly priced when considering the cost per person. "Then it's not so pricey, which can help convince consumers. That's what we as manufacturers try to think about."
She also believes careful consideration should be given to how companies can innovate. "Do you focus on developing complicated, luxury products, put those on the back burner, and look at more primary needs?" Jantine asks.
There is no single answer, but she tries to balance the short-term and the future. "At the end of the day, you have to consider the future and want to move forward. But you have to find the right balance. Develop beautiful, new products but don't ignore the fact that people are shopping differently." The economic dynamics of processed fruit and vegetable purchases differ from store to store, and some products, like luxury salad bowls, still sell well. Jantine, thus, considers it essential to constantly stay in tune with your target market. "We look at current events but don't lose sight of the long term," she concludes.
For more information:
Jantine Heemskerk
Heemskerk fresh & easy
Vinkenweg 32
2231 NS Rijnsburg
Tel.: +31 71 402 13 38
j.heemskerk@wheemskerk.nl
www.heemskerkfresh.com