Conveniently enough

This year’s Convenience Retailing Show takes place at Birmingham’s NEC from March 14-17. As the largest show of its kind, the event boasts new show areas and promises to bring together professionals from across the convenience sector - one of the fastest growing areas in fresh produce.

Retail trends in the convenience sector are well documented - in recent years the convenience offer has extended across numerous lines and shows no sign of abating.

West London-based Superior Foods Group has been offering a wide range of fresh-cut produce and pre-portioned food, to the travel, hotel and food service industries nationwide for the past fifteen years.

“Our range is vast,” says commercial director David Guy, “and it incorporates a varied offer. We supply conventional lines such as carrot batons, chateau potatoes and fresh pineapple chunks and also more specialist products such as hand-cut fennel wedges, raw and roasted vegetable medleys, highly exotic fruit platters and natural, long-life fruit salad pots.”

It is within the third arm of the group Superior Packaging’s newly re-furbished high care facility that some of the range is pre-plated for airlines along with a complete range of sandwiches, cut cheese and pre-packed salads.

“Around 60 per cent of our business is driven by airlines,” says Guy, “and these are often highly specified products. For instance, we have three ways of producing orange segments and they can be specified to a tolerance of 3g each if necessary. This is of particular importance to our airline customers because they need to ensure the fruit plate in seat 17a is identical to the one in 17b,” says Guy. Consequently, a 10-strong technical and quality control team oversee and document every step of production.

“Product development and innovation has become our new shop window and hence our team of development chefs is strengthening all the time,” says Guy. “Our unique set-up allows us to be ferociously competitive especially when we can combine the three companies expertise in products like airline cheese plates garnished with fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. A field to plate concept captures what we can offer in a nutshell.”

As the trend towards time-poor lifestyle accelerates, the demand for convenience products has also continued to drive developments in packaging and choice, and in addition to this there is a greater awareness of the need for food safety.

“In recent years there has been a huge expansion in the prepared market and I believe this is down to increased hygiene regulations in the kitchens and a general shortage of chefs,” says Steve Short, director of Accent Fresh.

The Norfolk-based company is now in its eighth year but started in prepared produce two years ago in response to customer demand. “Primarily we found we were continually being asked for prepared produce,” says Short, “and we were having to buy it in from other companies. Now we prepare our own, and although we don’t supply in bulk we do provide a range of varied produce and use local supplies wherever possible.”

The company’s biggest line is prepared potatoes which it supplies in a number of ways including peeled, cut, diced, sliced and parisienne. The second biggest seller is baton carrots. “We do a huge range of a every other conceivable product including leeks and sweet potatoes,” says Short. “Apart from the obvious benefit of convenience we also give our customers produce that has been strictly controlled and is of guaranteed quality and that is exactly what the industry requires. The convenience sector has grown enormously in the last few years and Accent Fresh expects to see good growth in the next five years purely due to market expansion.”

P&P Fresh Prepared Veg is currently in the throes of expanding its operations with the creation of a new food processing unit - the company is also refurbishing its existing site. “Work is in progress now for the 7,000 sqft high care facility,” says managing director, Peter Hodges. “Our existing factory is operating to full capacity but things will start moving in the next 12 months and then we will undoubtedly taking on a fair amount more labour - creating 10 more jobs, at least. The new high-care facility is partly funded by the Agrifoods division of the Welsh Development Agency.

“It is just the tip of the market as far as convenience is concerned,” Hodges continues, “and there is still a lot more that can be done in terms of product offer. The concept of single portions has been enormously popular but then it is thanks to new technology that the sector has really taken off. New developments have enabled these products to have much better flavour that in the past and in some cases the taste can be almost as good as when the products were fresh.”

Potatoes and onions are currently the biggest lines. “We will probably go down the route of doing more Chinese lines such as peppers because they are higher value lines than route vegetables,” says Hodges. “There is much more demand now for more exotic produce - that is what consumers want.”

“The fresh produce market has seen very large changes over the past few years, mirroring the changes in our busy lifestyles with the increased need for convenience,” says Jane Bicknell, technical applications and marketing manager at Amcor, “and improved graphics and overall pack presentation are more important than ever to grab the attention of the consumer.”

Amcor is a world leader in the supply of modified atmosphere films, designed to maintain freshness and extend shelf life of salads, vegetables and fruit. Advanced technology is used to control permeability, creating the ideal film for every product. With the ever-increasing popularity of the retail convenience sector, prepared produce such as salads, vegetables and fruits has been a large growth area for the business over the last five years in the UK, Europe and US.

With AMCOR P-Plus microperforated films, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are adjusted naturally to create an equilibrium-modified atmosphere. This results in slowing down the respiration rate, thereby delaying the ageing process, retaining freshness and extending shelf-life. These films are ideally suited for medium to high respiring products such as prepared vegetables.

P-Plus Extra is a new novel process and an extension to the AMCOR P-Plus range of films. These films are designed to have a lower level of permeability suitable for products such as prepared salads and fruit, especially in a lidded format where surface area of breathable film is minimal.

“AgriFresh is our range of speciality films, which utilises Amcor’s range of film technology. Each film has been developed to have a specific permeability from the expert choice of its components. The technology ensures we choose the optimal structure, with not just the correct permeability, but also the required quality consumer attributes such as clarity, openability and feel. The AgriFresh range is ideal for prepared salads. The main benefits of utilising a MAP film from Amcor include extended shelf-life for retailer and customer and the increased possibility of offering new convenient products to meet customer demand.

The wide portfolio of Amcor Flexibles film solutions covers the diverse range of packing formats needed for the convenience market and specialist technologists tailor specifications to meet precise product requirements.

“We supply optimal solutions for every category of fresh produce - retail, foodservice and bulk. Our solutions include film on the reel for vertical, horizontal and lidding packing machines, pre-made bags for smaller applications and large carton liners for bulk storage and transport.

Distinct market focus is the key strategy of Amcor and it has many key production sites around the world, which are dedicated to the fresh produce market. This ensures that we fully understand all the needs and specific requirements of the market and therefore always meet the expectations of quality, innovation and service.”