David Shapley
Support is growing for the idea of a single organisation to raise the profile of British fruit and vegetables.
Jonathan Tremayne, chairman of the British Leafy Salad Association, said there was a strong belief that different crop associations could pool resources to promote British horticulture.
He was speaking at the association's first conference since it widened its representation and changed its name from the British Iceberg Growers' Association.
Tremayne said he intended to pursue the idea with other associations. His remarks followed a speech by Peter Davey, supply chain and training director for IGD, in which he lamented the lack of consumer recognition for the UK's fruit and vegetable industry.
Grahame Ward, managing director of Snaith Salads, focused on the lettuce industry and warned producers that it would be an uphill struggle to strengthen their industry's image with the multiples. In a market worth around £80m, the majority of lettuce is sold by the big retailers, so growers in effect have handed over brand control, he said. The best he could hope for was the new DoH Five-a-Day logo appearing on packaging.
The conference was also told the industry must expect changes in consumer demand, based on US indications which usually lead the way. David Griffin, the sixth largest grower in the US, said that while total US retail sales would rise 10% to $2.2bn this year, loose and prepared iceberg was loosing share to Romain and other leaf lettuce along with special mixes. There was also a move towards ridged packaging because of complaints that products in bags became damaged.
He was nevertheless critical of the lack of product innovation and said there was a great deal of missed opportunity. "There are 27,000 potential new salad products, but the industry operates on only some 250." he added.
He foresaw the future bringing robotic growing, greater use of breathable packaging films to extend shelf life, and more information sharing and demand forecasting by growers.
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Support is growing for the idea of a single organisation to raise the profile of British fruit and vegetables.
Jonathan Tremayne, chairman of the British Leafy Salad Association, said there was a strong belief that different crop associations could pool resources to promote British horticulture.
He was speaking at the association's first conference since it widened its representation and changed its name from the British Iceberg Growers' Association.
Tremayne said he intended to pursue the idea with other associations. His remarks followed a speech by Peter Davey, supply chain and training director for IGD, in which he lamented the lack of consumer recognition for the UK's fruit and vegetable industry.
Grahame Ward, managing director of Snaith Salads, focused on the lettuce industry and warned producers that it would be an uphill struggle to strengthen their industry's image with the multiples. In a market worth around £80m, the majority of lettuce is sold by the big retailers, so growers in effect have handed over brand control, he said. The best he could hope for was the new DoH Five-a-Day logo appearing on packaging.
The conference was also told the industry must expect changes in consumer demand, based on US indications which usually lead the way. David Griffin, the sixth largest grower in the US, said that while total US retail sales would rise 10% to $2.2bn this year, loose and prepared iceberg was loosing share to Romain and other leaf lettuce along with special mixes. There was also a move towards ridged packaging because of complaints that products in bags became damaged.
He was nevertheless critical of the lack of product innovation and said there was a great deal of missed opportunity. "There are 27,000 potential new salad products, but the industry operates on only some 250." he added.
He foresaw the future bringing robotic growing, greater use of breathable packaging films to extend shelf life, and more information sharing and demand forecasting by growers.
{{MARKET EDGE }}
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