Fruit sales surge to become fastest-growing category

Healthy diets have driven a dramatic rise in fruit category sales, with berries and grapes among the fastest growing products of the last year.

Values sales rose by £580.4m, the biggest rise in the top ten grocery categories of 2025, according to data from NIQ ScanTrack data produced for The Grocer.

Berries and grapes were key to increased consumption, particularly strawberries (+£125mn) and blueberries (+£101.3mn), and were among the top 10 fastest-growing products overall in the year.

“This year’s results point to a genuine reset in shopper behaviour,” said Julian Crane, NIQ managing director for the UK & Ireland. 

“Consumers are prioritising wellbeing, buying more fresh fruit and minimally processed foods, and returning to the reliability of core proteins and speciality breads,” he said. 

Chocolate, meat, energy drinks and speciality bread were among the other fastest-growing categories in 2025, while the biggest fallers included meat-free products, cigarettes, vapes and, bizarrely, toilet roll. 

Rising fruit sales were supported by a significant 4.3 per cent uplift in volume sales, data found.

That contrasts to chocolate, where high inflation drove value sales up, but higher prices also saw 11.5 million fewer kgs bought by shoppers.

Strong performance in the fruit category was put down to ideal growing conditions, record temperatures, and a renewed focus on health, with 33 per cent of consumers citing it as their top concern during the summer.

Editor-in-chief at The Grocer, Adam Leyland, added: “This year’s Top Products Survey provides fantastic insight into the priorities and changing habits of the nation’s shoppers. It’s heartening to see the healthy switches shoppers have made.

“But the decline in volume sales in categories that have seen the biggest price hikes – such as dairy, chocolate and beef – shows there are limits to price elasticity. It’s clear the shopper’s patience has snapped.”