Summer sun rejuvenates flagging leafy salad sales

It’s been an exciting couple of months on the new product development front with leafy salad producer G’s making headway in Tesco with its fresh & naked unwashed salad boxes launched in May and its ‘Living Leaves’ launched in June, under the same branding.

The most innovative of the launches is probably the salad boxes that contain 60g of either wild rocket, ‘Sweet Mixed Salad Leaf”, lamb’s lettuce or “Strong mixed salad leaf” and are aimed at the lunch break and one person households.

Convenience is the key and the 100 per cent recyclable attractive cardboard packaging shows off the product through a cellophane window so consumers can see how fresh the product is. G’s plans to drive the unwashed bagged salad market to £14 million from £8m and aims to cash in on the fact that the leaves have not been washed in chlorine or gas flushed, as well as it being the only boxed product on the block.

And the situation is certainly looking hopeful. The fresh & naked unwashed salad box line has delivered strong initial sales since its launch, exceeding G’s and Tesco’s expectations. “We hit a peak just before August, but the line has been supported by lots of price promotions, which has pushed it forward,” said a G’s spokesperson. “The cut has been shared between Tesco and ourselves, and we are happy to do it as this is the way to get a product noticed. Rocket has been the best seller, while the mixed offer has taken a while to win around consumers, but as more try it, it is certain to increase in popularity.” The product has done enough for Tesco to decide to continue the line until winter.

Meanwhile in the wholehead arena and in the same vein, M&S is offering its customers a baby iceberg lettuce - again a creation of Cambridgeshire-based G’s. This lettuce is 75 per cent smaller than the usual iceberg wholehead and is also aimed at the one person household.

Moving from Tesco and M&S, to Waitrose, edible flowers are beginning to build up momentum in the mainstream, with the top-end retailer stocking a Waitrose Green Salad with Nasturtium Leaves. This is a first for any UK multiple and edible flowers have never been part of a salad bag before. The fiery nasturtium leaves are paired with butterhead lettuce and pea shoots and the new line aims to make the most of the recent trend towards “flower food”.

“Floral flavours were once considered the taste of a more mature shopper,” according to Waitrose. “However with girl-only dinner parties and retro afternoon teas becoming all the rage, our culinary tastes are booming. Flower power has become the gastronomic must-have and the Waitrose Garden Salad with Nasturtium Leaves is bound to impress guests.”

This quarter was not only a success for NPD in leafy salads. Production-wise, the summer has been a blessing, although the warm weather tailed off during August. “We have had superb salad weather from April and May,” said one grower, “although there has been a north/south divide when it comes to weather. The north was a month ahead of the south and in July, they received no sun at all compared to May. But in general terms this has been a good summer - much better than the last two.”

Although the weather was on the growers’ side, the industry didn’t see the uplift in sales that was expected. Some suppliers believe that this was partly due to multiples focusing their promotional efforts on wholehead lettuce rather than bagged or speciality. “Wholehead lettuce has been nearly on a continuous promotion throughout the summer and that has got to have had some impact on bagged salad’s sales,” reasons one grower. “There are a solid core of consumers that buy just iceberg and cos lettuce in wholehead form and won’t buy out of that area.”

Despite the good weather, lack of demand for speciality leaves meant that crops were still ploughed back in to the ground and growers are disappointed that sales tactics were not aggressive enough.

UK crops are approximately a week ahead at the moment, due to the weather, but rain is now slowing the plants down and growers think that at the end of the season (usually around mid-November) will be more or less at the same time as last year.

FRESHNESS AND FLAVOUR DRIVE BRITS TO BUY MORE HERBS

While much of the food industry has been feeling the pinch over the last two years, the herb sector has experienced a sales surge. Elizabeth O’Keefe takes a look at the British Herb Trade Association (BHTA) and rounds up news on its ongoing promotional campaign.

The recession, it could be said, worked well for the fresh herb industry. Fresh herbs saw a rise in sales as consumers went back to basics and starting cooking meals from scratch.

Now, even as we see the green shoots of recovery, it appears that consumers are not reverting to their old ways and this back-to-basics culture may well be set to prove itself an ongoing trend.

The fresh herbs market is currently worth £86 million and continues to grow at around nine per cent year on year, according to Nielsen. This is mainly owing to penetration, which is up five per cent year on year to 32.7 per cent, with frequency of purchase up by 6.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent. Fresh cut herbs account for almost two thirds of the market and are growing faster than any other format. The top four best selling lines are coriander, basil, flat leaf parsley and curly parsley.

Leon Mundey, of the BHTA, says: “Consumers going back to basics because of the economic climate presented a huge growth opportunity for the fresh herbs industry.

“Penetration and frequency of purchase have increased and we now want to build on this by inspiring both loyal fresh herb users and infrequent purchasers to use fresh herbs on a more regular basis across a range of dishes. We want fresh herbs to be viewed by these consumers as ingredients which can be used to add taste, freshness and flavour to everyday dishes. Our PR campaign aims to do this and we are confident it will deliver great results and drive sales.”

The new campaign has been developed by PR agency Mustard Communications and its focus is on the ability of herbs to make “ordinary meals extraordinary”, demonstrating that herbs can completely transform everyday dishes.

The campaign will consist of some fun creatives, including a strong digital media element. Social networking sites will also be a key vehicle to the drive.

Wendy Akers, managing director of Mustard Communications, says: “The campaign has got off to a flying start with recipe development and media relations on making the most of fresh herbs throughout summer, which generated well-targeted coverage. Later this year we will be launching a nationwide competition in association with a celebrity chef. Through our targeted approach we are positive that the campaign will drive sales and communicate to consumers that fresh herbs are the number-one ingredient to add freshness and flavour to a range of dishes.”

The PR campaign is funded by five member companies: Humber VHB, R&G Fresh Herbs, Lincolnshire Herbs, Lighthorne Herbs and Scotherbs, while the core BHTA is funded by around fifty companies in the trade. The association aims to promote the fresh herb industry in the UK and offers support across all areas of the industry from the different types of herb production, through to processing, product development and technical issues.