Sainsbury's will "definitely" be rolling out its fresh fruit snack packs, launched last week, to stores nation-wide, buyer Dominique Schulenburg confirmed to freshinfo this week.
"The line is already in all 84 Local and Central stores," said Schulenburg, "and we will definitely be expanding the range."
Strawberries are expected to feature in the new line in the next week to 10 days as the store fine tunes the packaging required.
"The aim is for the range to be quite seasonal, so for example there will not be cherries in October," she said. "But we will always have a minimum of four or five skews, and there will be more, up to 10."
The store is still working with customer focus groups on plans for the extension of the range. "And we are also trying to put the best varieties in," said Schulenburg. "This is not [Sainsbury's premium label] Taste the Difference, but we are looking for the right varieties."
For example, the cherries included in the new packs this summer are Bing from the US north-west, followed as the season progresses by varieties from Spain and Turkey, and apples are New Zealand Braeburn, followed by French.
The range is designed to appeal to office workers - alongside sandwiches and prepared produce - as well as to other adults and children for picnics.
The packaging of the new range has been key to its development. "It has been specially commissioned to be sturdy, re-sealable, re-usable, and to stand up on the shelf so it can easily be gripped without fruit being damaged,” said Schulenburg.
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