The fresh-cut sector has really taken off in recent years, with more and more ready-to-eat products on the shelves.
Simplyfruit, based in Northern Ireland, started processing local Bramley apples seasonally in 1987 for a local canning company. They have come a long way since then. The company now sources fruit from around the globe and supplies retailers in Ireland and the UK with ready-to-eat fruit, as well as food service customers.
"We have done a lot to grow the business in the last few years," said Connor McCann, Director at the company. "Our product range includes 20 branded lines, with packaging options from single-serving 50g bags to larger 750g sharing pots. The most popular fruits are mango, pineapple, melons, grapes, and apples."
"Following Brexit, we really had to take stock and look at our range of products. The new regulations gave us so much more paperwork, everything took longer, and costs increased. We reduced our lines to the core range and stuck with popular ones. We increased supply to retailers in the south due to difficulties they had in bringing products from the UK to the Republic of Ireland following the implementation of extensive checks at the ports. Where some retailers had 40 SKUs imported from the UK, we were able to supply 20 branded products within a 3-week notice. Following the first full year of sales, the 20 branded products outperformed the previous range. This proves that you need to start with the basics. We have spent the last few years getting the basics right and automating our processing plant. I have been lucky enough to have visited our peers in Europe to see what they were doing, in some cases I saw that we could do better, but in others we were already doing it better."
Connor welcomed the trade deal, which has been agreed between the UK and the EU, which would certainly make importing easier as most of the product comes in via Rotterdam before entering the UK. "We are totally up to date on all the compliance and have never had any problems. We will all just have to get used to it again, importers, DEFRA, hauliers. The quality standards will remain the same, but the big problem is the uncertainty of it all, as there are no guarantees or timelines."
Connor sees their products as a great way to bring fruit to people who may not want to buy, for example, a whole melon or three different melons. "They can buy the mixed pack and have all three. We also have a story to tell about how fruit varieties have changed, they are not the slightly sour or tasteless fruit you used to get as a child. These days, fruit is much tastier. Also, our fruit can't hide under its skin; what you see is what you get."
Last year, Simplyfruit did a whole rebrand, changing the logo too. This came partly from a need to update and also from the team they sponsor, the All-Ireland-winning Gaelic Football team.
"The fresh-cut sector in general has seen a big increase in demand, especially since Covid, when people wanted to eat healthier. There is also better availability of products for people now. We are launching a Pink Lady sparkling juice, which is made from the apples' cores, which would normally have gone to waste. This is a great product and helps us be more sustainable. We will also launch a mango and pineapple juice next year."
For more information:
Connor McCann
Simplyfruit
Tel: +44 2838350807
[email protected]
www.simplyfruit.com