Florette believes that this summer will be the best for some time due to consumers holidaying at home, representing increased eating opportunities for salad.
Sandy Sewell, commercial director for Florette UK, told FPJ: “2009 will offer real prospects for incremental growth as prepared salad takes centre stage in what will prove to be the best summer for salads in some years.
“Historically, May and June have been the key sales months for the category and, certainly from our own point of view, we see an average of 25 per cent of annual sales during these months. With many more people set to stay at home this summer, the sales uplift during July and August could be up 20 per cent against 2008, which will be great news for the category.”
The Florette brand will be supported with a £3 million, summer-long TV and advertising campaign, to increase brand penetration and frequency of purchase through the summer season.
“Securing growth is not just about convenience and freshness - experimentation and diversity are equally important and we will be using our new 2009 product ranges to inspire existing, and new, consumers with exciting new tastes, to deliver a great summer for the consumer as well as category growth,” continued Sewell.
New bagged salad formats Crispy Combinations and Deliciously Crunchy have been borne out of Florette’s research into the latest trends not only with bagged salad consumers, but also wholehead buyers.
“We discovered that consumers are passionate about crunchy leaves because they really love the taste and, significantly, crunch means freshness to them,” said Sewell. “The new Deliciously Crunchy mix will have broad appeal, providing a strong point of difference from current offerings which are largely made up of cheaper ingredients, such as cabbage and carrot and can put off some consumers who perceive inferior quality.
“Our new Deliciously Crunchy mix blends extra crunchy Little Gem lettuce and premium Red Batavia whole leaves to deliver the ultimate in crunch and taste.
“In addition, a recommended price of £1.49 has been designed to increase cash sales for the retailer, especially welcome within a sector that is declining by 7.8 per cent,” added Sewell.
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