Today’s consumers demand a wider choice of fresher produce for a healthier lifestyle, a trend which is sustaining despite the recession.
The branded food manufacturing and retail sector increasingly has to meet this challenge. Our local markets and farm shops are thriving as we turn away from supermarket convenience for select purchases of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Ongoing research continues to show we are prepared to pay a premium price for these select purchases with the distinct belief they taste better, are better for us, and are kinder to local communities and our planet. We are also much more concerned about what our children eat, particularly at school.
This is a challenge for some of the biggest brands not traditionally associated with these values. Remember the outcry over the now infamous Turkey Twizzlers? Jamie Oliver’s campaign for better school lunches had a devastating impact on the company in question.
There are of course already some big fresh produce brands – Jaffa, Del Monte, Florette and Rooster potatoes to name a few. But most of the big manufacturing and retailer brands seem totally divorced from freshness. There seems to be a significant gap in the fresh produce manufacturing market for big brands, where there can be significant benefits in cost for greater production runs and brand marketing support to create great products customers can trust and relate to.
Why can’t we see more brands like this in terms of fruit and veg? I think the big brands we are so familiar with will have to constantly develop their produce to keep in line with consumer demands for seasonality and freshness, by introducing new products or adapting existing ones to give a healthier, fresher twist.
This is nothing new and is already happening anyway. McDonald’s has transformed its traditional high street outlets to have a much fresher ambiance, and introduced healthier ingredients and dishes to its menus, to great commercial success at a time when the company was struggling in the UK and European market. The fast-food chain is one of the world’s biggest purchasers of fresh produce, such as lettuce, tomatoes and potatoes, and will no doubt have to continue refining and developing its offer given that a significant part of it is essentially bad for you. La Tasca has completely revamped its menu based on consumer research to add fresher, healthier ingredients and dishes – to great success.
This leads us to the key dilemma for the big brands – surely they need to put delivering great produce which adds value to their customers’ lives first – healthier fresher food means happier sustained lives which are passed on to future generations. —
No comments yet