Table grape sales in the UK enjoyed a Christmas boost this festive season, with some retailers reporting a rise in sales, and market data showing a surge in certain grape purchases over the two-week December 2015 period compared to the previous year.
Christmas retail trading figures for grapes were not available as FPJ went to press, but analysts saw some retail sales growth thanks to certain supermarket promotions in December and consumer willingness to spend more on yuletide groceries.
Capespan UK confirmed a year-on-year grape sales rise for the supermarket over the festive period, driven by the Co-op’s pre-Christmas strategy of offering 500g green and red punnets for £2, compared to its 2014 deal of 400g for £2.50.
Leading UK grape retailer Tesco, meanwhile, told FPJ that, while it did not want to disclose details, it was happy with the performance of its grape category this Christmas. “Good volumes from the start of the season have helped us, together with our growers, continue to give our customers the best quality, availability and strong promotions,” says Emma Martin, Tesco buying manager for citrus and grapes.
A rise in cheese consumption over Christmas also boosted total UK grape sales, figures show, since grapes are typically bought as an accompaniment to the traditional festive cheese board.
“Christmas 2015 saw a 10 per cent period-on-period increase of consumer baskets that contain both grapes and cheese, according to Nielson data,” says Rebecca Lovegreen, Capespan UK consumer insight
manager.
Asda, however, the UK’s second-largest grape retailer in terms of market share, says its Christmas sales, while still strong, were nonetheless flatter than last year.
“The strongest demand we get is January to April when there is less competition from other fruits such as berries, stonefruit or citrus,” says Asda grape category manager Alberto Goldbacher.
The UK grape market is likely to remain strong during the ‘healthy eating’ months of January and February, say buyers. And prices are expected to remain stable thanks to steady volumes of South African fruit.
This is in stark contrast to last year’s Christmas and New Year season, according to grape procurement heads, when fluctuating supplies sent prices yo-yoing from one extreme to another.
A pre-Christmas shortage – caused by European and Brazilian seasons finishing unusually early and South African harvests starting late – resulted in exceptionally high prices, which then plummeted post-Christmas when a flood of Namibian and South African produce came on stream, explains Peter Stanley, commercial manager for grapes at Mack, a supplier to the UK’s major supermarkets.
“It is a good steady market this year, unlike last year,” he says. “Good sales momentum was carried in on the back of a balanced, high-quality supply from South America. The start of the Namibian and South African fruit was very slightly later than initially forecast, with good volume of fruit on the vine. This slight delay didn’t cause any major issues.”
Historically, the UK market had to stretch the end of the Brazilian season to meet the first African arrivals, says Stanley. This resulted in high-priced and often air-freighted product being relied on for Christmas sales. Although this is no longer always the case, the UK supply calendar at this time of year is still developing.
“In the last four to five years, expansive plantings of grape in Piura, a new area of supply in Peru, have provided the perfect bridge,” he says. “At the same time there has also been significant investment in Namibia, which is also helping close the gap from the other side.”
Variety-wise, the main arrivals over the Christmas and New Year period include Early Sweet (green seedless), Prime (green seedless), Flame (red seedless) and Midnight Beauty (black seedless) grapes. Yet it is the red seedless varieties that are now most popular with UK consumers and these days dominate the overall market.
“Seedless green grapes once dominated the UK market, however sales have been in continuous decline over the last three years and now represent only 35 per cent of grape sales in the UK, according to Kantar,” says Lovegreen.
“The fall in green grapes has largely been offset by the growth in red grapes. However, over the last year, we have also seen the growth in mixed and black grape packs (37.5 per cent and 25.4 per cent value growth respectively), as consumers look for different eating experiences and retailers continually lower the price of these ranges to match the conventional red and green punnets.”
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