In next week's Journal, The Greenery will launch a concerted effort to encourage UK consumers to 'Eat a Salad a day'. The Greenery's UK Salad Market Report 2003 will be delivered free to all Journal readers and simultaneously presented to an army of some 1,000 key influencers of trade and consumer trends, in order to stimulate them to talk up salads over the coming months.

The Greenery is the leading grower-owned fresh produce specialist in Europe and its UK arm has as its stated mission: 'To stimulate and facilitate increased consumption of fresh produce in the UK in support of the business objectives of our customers'. It has identified the salad category as one with 'enormous potential for even more dynamic growth' and set about identifying ways to realise that potential.

48-page tome The 48-page tome on the salad sector is probably the most comprehensive, openly available review of the category to date. It contains an array of relevant facts, information, views and predictions and is designed to stimulate people in the food and food retailing industries to not only think more about salads, but how they too can capitalise on the market's healthy future.

For any doubters of the stature of salads, figures revealed in the report speak for themselves. Salads constitute seven per cent of total retail food sales in the UK and the last decade has seen growth of 18 per cent in volume and an astonishing 90 per cent in value. This is, says The Greenery's marketing director Margreet van Harn, 'despite the fact that there has been very little brand or generic activity to support this. We believe that providing the relevant information and stimulation to the widest possible audience will help to highlight the enormous potential for salads in the next decade, and also to act as a call to action among the diverse interests that will benefit from continued market growth.' One of the continuing debates within the fresh produce industry is whether unilateral promotional activities such as this are wise. By its very nature, this report has the capacity to benefit every company involved in salads, but The Greenery has chosen to compile and publish it alone and at its own expense. Why? 'Salad products, grower organisations and suppliers are focused on customer support, so there is very little brand/generic activity helping to grow the market for salads,' says van Harn. 'The Greenery possesses ? and has access to ? a combination of information, experience, resources, knowledge and contacts that makes it possible to review and analyse the UK salad market as a whole.

'A salad market report is a practical, relevant and sustainable tool for stimulating a variety of organisations and individuals who are able to influence the thoughts and behaviour of others. If no-one does it, nothing happens. We are an extremely important supplier to the UK retailers and in view of our mission, this is an opportunity that we felt could not be missed.

She adds that, while laudable, the UK government's 5-a-day campaign is biased towards fruit consumption, which is increasing anyway. Consumption of fresh vegetables has declined, but salads offer the most marketable package for reversing this trend.

A section of the report is devoted to health and nutrition and Tom Sanders, professor of nutrition and dietetics at King's College, London, states his belief that the decreasing consumption of vegetables is of huge concern.

'Encouraging people to eat a salad at least once a day is one of the easiest ways of increasing the intake of healthy vegetables,' he says. Sanders is joined as a contributor to the cause by food writer and broadcaster Sophie Grigson, who predicts that 'the 'noughties' look set to become the decade when we Brits embrace the salad with an unparalleled dedication'.

£1.2 billion market Salads, with a market value of £1.2 billion a year in the UK, can claim a larger portion of consumer spend than breakfast cereals or sliced bread and the sector is 50 per cent larger than the entire frozen vegetable category. Considering these factors, van Harn adds: 'This confirms that salads are already a regular part of the nation's diet, but the report brings into focus a variety of indicators and reasons that suggest there is enormous potential to significantly grow the market, which will benefit all stakeholders in both the supply and demand chains.' Salads, says Grigson, are coming of age and the report provides insight into the past, present and future of the category. It includes a wealth of information about the retail salad shopper, including the latest TNS Superpanel data on expenditure, purchasing, demographics, regionalisation and market comparisons.

'Salads have everything the modern consumer craves,' says van Harn. 'They are easy to prepare, enormously varied and flexible, healthy and nutritional. They are also good news for retailers. We are selling products that, because of their nature, people want to see on the shelves, and the margins are very good.' That may be true, but to get under the skin of the consumer, The Greenery also commissioned a TNS survey into consumer behaviour and preferences. The report contains exclusive information about salad consumption patterns and motivation, opinions about the offerings in supermarkets and restaurants, knowledge of salads and what it is in a salad that appeals most to consumers.

A salad, of course, is an amalgam of a vast group of products. The Greenery has narrowed this down to a group of seven lines which it has identified as the basic ingredients forming the 'heart of the salad'. The magnificent seven are: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, salad leaves, spring onions, celery and radishes. The seasons, market trends and nutritional content of each is analysed and the report culminates with the ultimate salad mix 'The Greenery Salad'.

The report takes in the streamlining of the salad supply chain, seasonal opportunities and the many initiatives and developments relating to availability, choice and variety, sensory appeal, convenience, health and safety and environmental care during the last decade.

It also makes some interesting predictions about the next 'decade of growth' for salads and contains possible scenarios for the likely make-up of the sector in 2013.

The Greenery is undertaking a marketing and educational support campaign for the Report during 2003 and beyond. It hopes to provide information, ideas, views, opinions and angles for interested parties to be able to 'talk up' salads over the next year, and lay the ground for an 'Eat a Salad a Day' campaign.

The Journal has been selected as the launch pad for the report and, says van Harn: 'We want this report to be accessible to all relevant sectors and the Journal offers us the opportunity to deliver the most targeted message to the entire fresh produce business.

'It is the most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver the report and its findings to our primary target audience.' The facts ? The UK salad market has increased by 90 per cent in value and 18 per cent in volume in the last decade (total fresh produce sales are down by three per cent in volume and up by 57.5 per cent in value in same period) ? Salads now represent seven per cent of total retail food sales...

? ...and 20.3 per cent of fresh produce sales (up from 16.8 per cent in 1992) ? 96.8 per cent of UK households buy salads ? Over 65s account for a quarter of the population, and for 24.4 per cent of salad expenditure ? against 16.9 per cent a decade ago ? The top three salad performers in the last 10 years (value): Salad Leaves (inc. bagged)+237 per cent Peppers +177 per cent Spring Onions + 84 per cent The challenge ? Only 21 per cent of women eat a salad every day, and just 11 per cent of men ? 77 per cent of consumers think the offering in supermarkets is excellent or good against only 43 per cent who think the same about salads in the places they eat out...

? ...As many as 22 per cent think the salad offering when eating out is poor or pathetic compared to only four per cent who think this about the salads offer in supermarkets Do you know? ? Where tomatoes originated and where their name comes from? ? Who introduced peppers to Europe? ? What the cucumber was originally called? ? Who invented the Caesar Salad and where? ? When the first English-language book on salads was written? ? How many books on salads are available via Amazon? Find out next week in The Greenery's UK Salad Market Report 2003 Do you think you know? ? How big the UK salad market will be in 2013? ? How organics can gain a 40 per cent share of the salad market? ? How important salads will be in foodservice? ? How many growers there will be 10 years from now? ? The future of salads and Genetic Modification? ? If salads will lead the way on traceability? Find out next week in The Greenery's UK Salad Market Report 2003

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