FPJ Big 50 Products 2018

The FPJ Big 50 Products ranks the 50 best-selling fresh fruit and vegetable products by sales value, using Kantar Worldpanel data for the 52 w/e 20 May 2018.


16. Carrots

Value: £221.9m Volume: 368.5m kg (+1.2%)

carrots organic

Catastrophic season leaves carrot suppliers short

Any sense of progress and optimism over slight value and volume increases in the past year have been largely eclipsed by a disastrous growing season that is set to cast a shadow over supply for the remainder of 2018.

Poor growing conditions – with the so-called Beast from the East in March followed by excess rain in spring and then the hottest summer in years – have combined to flatten yields to their lowest level in decades. With many other European countries having also suffered, supplies may struggle to match demand.

“The UK is traditionally self-sufficient in carrots, with around 97 per cent being supplied by British growers,” says British Carrot Growers Association chairman Rodger Hobson. “However, we have suffered the ‘perfect storm’ of poor conditions this year. Major carrot growers unanimously agree that the poor yields will massively push up UK production costs and that substantial imports will be required this season. It is almost inevitable that the price in the shops will go up.”

It’s unfortunate for a product that has repeatedly shown its versatility, and appears in a wide range of fresh, frozen and convenience packs. If there is to be a price rise though, carrots are surely well enough established that consumers will not be put off.


17. Onions

Value: £215.5m (+3.2%) Volume: 239.3m kg (-0.6%)

Generic onions

Solid sales for key ingredient

Onions remain an essential in every home cook’s larder.

Category value is up 3.2 per cent as consumers are favouring larger onions, but volume has slipped slightly with fewer promotions around in the last year, according to British Onions chairman Tim Elcombe. In line with general trends towards waste reduction, shoppers are also tending to buyer smaller packs.

Red onions are continuing their ascendancy, with many consumers preferring their aesthetic, and shallot sales are also doing well.

This has, however, been a highly problematic growing season, with late planting and drilling in April setting the industry back as much as six to eight weeks and hot weather serving to multiply the stress on growers’ shoulders. Elcombe estimates the crop will be down by as much as 20-25 per cent as a result and has called on retailers to be flexible with specifications and support growers who will be “close to the bone financially”.

Weather aside, growers have been buoyed by new trials, funded by AHDB and seed companies, which have shown they could be achieving up to 30t/ha more in yields with new, better performing varieties. Anything that helps combat the multitude of production challenges will be very welcome indeed.


18. Broccoli

Value: £198.2m (+10.5%) Volume: 112.4m kg (-1.1%)

Broccoli

Tough conditions overshadow broccoli progress

Last summer was a difficult time for broccoli growers. Excessive rain affected plantings and growth, with club root plaguing crops in both Cornwall and Lincolnshire.

“There wasn’t an abundance of broccoli around, which saw prices rise around 10 per cent,” says Greville Richards, managing director of Southern England Farms. While this pushed up prices, it also made it difficult for growers to fulfil orders, with certain companies going short last summer.

Unfortunately, this season isn’t proving any easier, with drought conditions causing crops to start backing up. “Five or six weeks’ worth of plantings are all looking in the same sort of condition from the day they were planted,” says Richards. “We’re forever playing a waiting game for it to come right, and if July ends up being a whole dry month, I think the season could be difficult until it ends.”

Richards is anticipating a shortage in the autumn because bigger plantings haven’t grown through in time.

On a more positive note, David Simmons of Riviera Produce notes that loose broccoli sales have increased thanks to the recent push to cut down on plastic packaging.

And with Tenderstem having helped make broccoli a star performer among brassicas, weather aside this is a category in a good place.


19. Lettuce

Value: £197.4m (-3.2%) Volume: 115.3m kg (+0.3%)

GEN lettuce

A game of two halves for warm-weather favourite

It has been a relatively steady year in the lettuce category, with no major change to volume sales.

“Over the past year, everything turned out pretty much as expected,” says Dieter Lloyd of food marketing consultancy PamLloyd, which works closely with the British Leafy Salads Association.

Things could have turned out quite differently if the cold, wet start to 2018 hadn’t been offset by warm weather in April, helping to push up sales. Before that, wet weather and the Beast from the East had looked set to drive down yields.

Strong sales growth in Gem and Romaine lettuce also helped to stabilise the category as iceberg sales fell five per cent in the year to 20 May. Demand for iceberg, which accounts for roughly 50 per cent of wholehead lettuce sales, remains high, but Gem and Romaine are higher-value crops and sales increases of five and 7.5 per cent respectively helped to soften the value decline.

Looking forward, supermarkets could have gaps on their salad shelves in the coming weeks as British lettuce production is hit by soaring temperatures. Lettuce stops growing when temperatures reach 30°C and the problem has been compounded by “unprecedented” high demand from shoppers seeking refreshing meals in the heat.


20. Avocados

Value: £178m (+7.2%) Volume: 40m kg (+3.7%)

avocado generic free use

Irresistible rise continues as trade co-ordinates approach

Avocados has been one of the great success stories of the fresh produce category, and although growth has slowed from the high double-digit increases of previous years, that’s more an indication of its maturity as a category than any saturation of the market.

That millennial favourite, smashed avocado on toast, might be the poster product for avocados’ rise, but there’s much more to it than that. “This incredibly versatile superfood is now commonly seen and the diversity of use has greatly increased,” points out Mark Everett, avocado business unit director at Worldwide Fruit. “They can be consumed hot or cold, sweet or savoury and are regularly used by celebrity chefs.”

What’s more, the establishment of the World Avocado Organisation, which is helping raise awareness and co-ordinating a joined-up marketing approach, has led to the first-ever World Avocado Month in June, ratcheting up the noise around this vogue product further.

A sign of faith in the category came with Fresca’s launch of The Avocado Company in June, while new product development such as Born Tasty’s on-the-go brand Snackamolé helps keep the momentum going.

With the fruit becoming ubiquitious in retail and foodservice, the only hurdle would seem to be ensuring supply and demand remain in perfect harmony.