What do you think the biggest trends in the fresh produce industry will be in 2012?
Laurence Olins: Executive chairman Poupart
Consumption of fresh produce will remain static with little growth, levels of inflation will reduce and there will be a drive to reduce wastage throughout the supply chain.
Anthony Gardiner: Marketing Director G's
We appear to be seeing the continued emergence of a shopper who is under financial pressure. However, these people are still looking for great quality products and convenient solutions that make their life easier.
Nicholas Marston: Managing director Berry Gardens
We will see a continuing consumer trend towards locally-sourced products. This trend will be driven by big events like the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, which will both promote Britishness, localness and provenance. There will also be an ongoing move towards healthy eating and cooking at home; food purchases are drifting from restaurants to cooking at home.
Hayley Campbell-Gibbons: Marketing director NFU
There will be even more product innovation leading to extending the British seasons on certain crops, more research into what else the UK could grow to further displace imports and retailers getting closer to growers to develop stronger supply chain relationships.
Nigel Jenny: Chief executive Fresh Produce Consortium
Given the knock-on effects the industry has suffered from the E. coli outbreaks in 2011, I’d like to see an outbreak-free year. While we must maintain our high standards to ensure that consumers enjoy safe, high-quality, affordable fresh produce, it’s vital that we press the UK government to help encourage greater consumption of fresh produce across the whole UK population. We’re encouraging members to support FareShare in 2012. This national food charity successfully demonstrates how our industry can help disadvantaged people who don’t have regular access to a healthy diet of fresh produce.
Chris Mack: Executive chairman Fresca
We are reasonably expecting to see a continuing growth in convenience ranges and in value ranges, in particular. There are opportunities that have proven themselves in other grocery categories that could prove fruitful in fresh produce this year, with the continuing infiltration of brands onto the shelves. Cross-promotions and multi-buy offers are also very likely to be used as tools to continue to drive volume sales.
Liz Bowles: South-West regional manager EFFP
We will see a polarised approach by major buyers - some will adopt a tactical short-term approach to buying, but this is bound to cause them supply problems for some products. The more enlightened will move closer to producers and adopt a partnership approach to sourcing, continuing the long-term move in this direction. In a new trend, foodservice businesses will start to purchase more directly from growers rather than wholesalers and processors. Despite the challenging marketplace, we think the trend for fresh produce branding will continue to give suppliers greater visibility.
What do you think will be the biggest challences for the year ahead?
HCG: It will be, undoubtedly, profitability. Most growers simply aren’t making a good enough return over their costs to allow for profit and reinvestment. A lot of growers will be tempted by the attractiveness of growing cereals, unless there is a discernible uplift in farmgate return.
LO: The pressure on margins and costs will be challenging.
AG: Rising input prices will continue to be a challenge as clearly shoppers are struggling to cope with inflation across the store and a declining personal spending power. This will continue into 2012 and we must seek to continue to drive efficiencies and ensure we are selling product that meets with consumers’ evolving lifestyles and expectations.
NM: There is a recession and consumers are more conscious about only buying what they need, buying fewer items more often and not letting food go to waste. The industry will have to adapt accordingly.
NJ: The FPC will continue to challenge the UK government and the European Commission to remove red tape from UK companies, and to recognise the high standards of reputable traders through broader application of the Assured Trader Scheme. We must ensure that the UK continues to be a destination of choice, with fast and effective importation controls allowing a wide range of fresh produce and cut flowers to be enjoyed by all.
LB: The economic recovery that seemed entrenched this time last year has faltered and there are serious concerns for the foreseeable future. UK economic growth is going to be slow and fragile. The government’s austerity programme is only just beginning to bite and hopes for an export-led recovery are confounded by the continuing eurozone debt crisis and lacklustre US growth. The retail sector will insert greater pressure on their supply chains as they compete for an ever more price-conscious consumer creating further price pressures all the way down the chain. For fresh produce businesses, the challenge will be to innovate, reduce costs, and become more efficient and to service the customer better to ensure that they have the most productive route to market possible.
CM: I think the pressure is going to stay firmly on suppliers to the multiple retailers. We have to help retailers keep fresh produce popular and affordable at a time when consumers are looking after their money. We’re seeing continued growth in value ranges, although an interesting characteristic of the market has been that top-tier quality still counts, with categories such as berries and speciality tomatoes continuing to enjoy growth. The challenge for us is to continue to innovate and drive this demand.
What would you most like Santa to bring for the fresh produce industry?
HCG: Some rain! A lot of potato growers are already anxious that reservoirs won’t be filled over the winter in time for spring and summer irrigation, so they’ll be looking for some steady rainfall. Not so great for the rest of us though!
LO: It would have to be mild weather worldwide!
NM: Higher margins and returns.
NJ: We face a tough challenge to stave off increases for plant health statutory fees. Fera must make efficiencies and target resources towards where the real plant health problems lie - outside fresh produce. It’s nonsense that the industry might have to bear even greater exorbitant costs for a continually inefficient service.
LB: We would love to see the fresh produce industry making an extra special effort to work together and within their supply chains. And meet the challenges set out above will require much greater collaboration than we have seen to date.
AG: Ideally, we would like to see a sustained period of fine sunny weather between April and October - the recipe for a perfect salad season.
CM: A strong pound; a reduction in fuel costs; a long, hot summer; a nation in which everyone’s eating 5 A DAY; and a solution to the uncertainty over the future of Birmingham Wholesale Market.
What would your company's new year's resolution be?
LB: EFFP's new year's resolution would be to help as many fresh produce firms and producer organisations as possible to work more collaboratively throughout the supply chain. We also would like to encourage growers to qualify for aid under the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme by building producer organisations that are able to fully meet the requirements of the scheme while delivering measurable benefits for their members.
AG: We are currently imbedding ‘lean thinking’ [identifying customers and specifying value, identifying and mapping the value stream, creating flow by eliminating waste, responding to customer pull and pursuing perfection] as a discipline across our business, which we are looking to drive even harder through 2012.
LO: To continue to improve our performance and be leaders in our chosen fields.
NM: To do everything we currently do, but better.
HCG: To communicate even more effectively with our grower members. We’re aware that our newsletters and magazines don’t get to all our members, so we’ll be having a real push on communications to make sure that nobody is missing out.
NJ: The FPC’s task will be to call ministers to account to deliver on their overdue promises in 2012.
CM: This year we’re asking all our people to remember the basics of our industry and to ensure that whatever pressures we face, that we never forget that every box counts for our growers, our people and our customers. We have to make the most of every consignment we receive and look to maximise its value for the benefit of everyone involved. -
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