Citrus is a popular line in the winter months so it is no surprise that the value of the market has risen to £611 million, a good performance in the context of the rest of the fruit market. This marks a step in the right direction, with progress fuelled by rising prices and shoppers buying more often and more each time.
Morrisons has shown the strongest growth by featuring citrus prominently over the festive period and achieving “sexy” prices with its all-important £1 ticket by reacting to the market at short notice.
“The strategy has been very clear and successful over the last three to four months,” says an insider. “Across the sector as a whole, responses from growers in previous years have meant that there has been less willingness from growers and importers to take part in crazy price deals. Importers are working as tight as they can, retailers are working as directly with the growers as they can. There has been more investment from retailer margins than you would have had in any other year, but the promotions are still there.”
Once again, easy peelers such as tangerines, mandarins and satsumas are pushing growth. This is especially evident at the premium end of the market, which has enjoyed a 30 per cent boost as the likes of leafy clementines and improved eating varieties are singled out for premiumisation.
“The newer varieties and higher quality of easy peelers have really driven growth and the category has continued to expand year on year,” says one supplier. “Clementines with leaves, in particular, have done very well in this period. The top-end ranges are doing well, where the fruit does warrant this kind of differentiation. There has been a lot of premiumisation in the category, but we have to make sure that the fruit delivers.”
This time around, however, limes are the star performer, growing 31.1 per cent as prices rose significantly following a tricky period for lemon supplies from Argentina in particular. In the absence of lemons, importers have been buying limes from more unusual sources including Iran. However, this growth is not expected to continue at the same rate given that lemons are now in good supply from Spain in a return to more normal trading.
At the other end of the market, grapefruit has shown value growth of just 2.3 per cent, with volume in decline.
All in all, this has not been the easiest period, with high freight costs and conditions on the roads hitting supplies making their way across Europe. The transport situation has been particularly tough in Spain, where there has been a 25 per cent reduction in haulage as costs have rocketed to €5,000 a truck, compared to the average €3,000 and around €4,000 for the Christmas rate.
Spanish citrus players are expecting lower-than-average volumes this season, with government figures forecasting 3.5 million tonnes.
According to Juan Bautista Juan Gimeno from the regulatory council for Valencian Citrus PGI, “these numbers could make for perfectly acceptable quantities for the markets and that would lead to a reasonable price for growers.
“But the stagnation of consumption and price collapse are strongly affecting the Valencian citrus sector,” he continues. “More specifically, since November there has been a progressive decline in domestic prices, mainly for oranges and mandarins to a lesser extent.
“Reducing costs and opening new market niches are critical issues for arriving at a total recovery of the citrus sector. Today’s growers have very high costs that are not offset by sales.”
The way the season is running in Spain, it has been a good year with high quality even if oranges and easy peelers have been smaller than last year.
The end of South African supply in November saw fewer supplies reach the UK as other countries including Russia and the Middle East become increasingly attractive to exporters.
Key northern hemisphere sources are now coming into their own, with Egyptian supplies coming on stream in the next two weeks, Morocco starting with early Navel, Cyprus coming through with mandarins and Israel set to provide Suntina.
“I think we are heading towards a well-supplied market,” says one importer. “There are bigger volumes of late season fruit from Spain, so there are good volumes still to come. Normally, there is some panic in February and March at the end of the easy-peel season, but the increase in late fruit means that this should be more stable this season.”
The start of the southern hemisphere season could be more problematic following hail in South Africa, but this is not one to watch out for until May.
REACHING OUT FOR INNOVATION
An unusual Australian citrus variety that dates back more then 200 years has been nominated for this year’s Fruit Logistica Innovation Award, which will be given out next month. Anna Sbuttoni talks to Finger Limeing Good managing director James Boyd about his distinctive finger limes and how reviving more than 85 varieties has marked a step forward for the category.
As the “caviar” of the citrus category and with an appearance to match, Australian finger limes are at the top end of the market and an innovation that stands apart from the everyday.
The long, thin fruit with a colourful pulp that comes in shades including green, pink and yellow now has 20,000 trees at different growth stages in the ground stretching down the east coast of Australia.
James Boyd, who heads up Finger Limeing Good, came into the produce industry through what he describes as “a love affair with a simple product that has remained hidden away”. He started producing finger limes 10 years ago, after coming across them growing in the wild and realising their commercial potential.
More than 85 different varieties have been uncovered through a decade of research and development and next up, fruit with a deep burgundy flesh is set to be released next season.
But the rediscovery of finger limes can be traced back to the early 1990s, when finger lime pioneers Judy Viola and Deborah and Peter Sloman carried out significant research in northern New South Wales. This work was extended by Finger Limeing Good in its R&D programme.
The limes, which crop from January to June, are distributed by a close network of distributors in Europe, the US and Asia. They are mainly sent to Europe and some find their way to the UK. In fact, Michelin-starred restaurants in the likes of London, Paris and New York have embraced finger limes in a number of ways, from in champagne to part of Asian dipping sauces.
“Finger limes are treated as a novelty, rather than as a forming part of menus,” says Boyd. “The varieties make up another dimension for an exotic ingredient for the adventurous chefs and others.
“Our plan is to extend and grow the business with plantings in both hemispheres so that the limes are available fresh all year round. We would love a UK distributor.”
Finger limes will go head to head with the likes of the Sweet Resistants series of apples from Italy, Jamie Oliver-branded Grow Your Own herbs and mushrooms from Denmark and the Sweet Sensation pear from the Netherlands.
The winner will be unveiled at Fruit Logistica in Berlin on 11 February.
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