Potatoes were the most sold vegetables on the Australian market, with nearly twice as much tonnage than the nearest product, for the year ending June 2016. Delivering a presentation to Hort Connections last week, market research and analysis company Freshlogic ranked the top 20 vegetables across four categories.
Potatoes sold just under 453,000 tonnes on the wholesale market, nearly double that of tomatoes at 247,000, followed by onions, carrots and lettuce. Managing Director Martin Kneebone says there was an expected bias towards heavier products, although the size of potato packaging is getting smaller.
"Potatoes are volume driven," he said. "The new varieties, ranges and the work that the retailers have done, they've got that pack size to what people want. People select potatoes on their own, in a loose display and pick up around 800grams. We used to sell a lot of one and half and two and three kilo bags. People don't want that anymore. They want a smaller portion, so the pack size is coming down."
But the top two were switched when it came to wholesale value, which is driven by volume and price. Tomatoes were worth $605milion with potatoes at $439million. Mushrooms came in third ahead of cut leaf salad and cucumbers. Freshlogic puts one of the reasons for the high value of tomatoes down to the range of varieties on the market.
"The retail value for tomatoes is the standout," Mr Kneebone said. "It’s merely $1.2billion in a retail market worth $12billion. It (tomatoes) are our most sophisticated category; deep range, some branding coming in and major mainstream retailers, all of those sectors happy to carry 20 odd products. There's not many categories in fruit and vegetables that retail anything like that. Mushrooms it's about the value; $6 wholesale. Similarly with cut leaf salad, it's a high value product. Cucumbers surprise some people, but it's a steady line that just keeps going."
Mr Kneebone told the conference that range depth and the average price are the key drivers in terms of volume and value, labelling the tomato as the "poster child" of the vegetable varieties. He says that in a self-serve retail environment the kilogram sales unit has become confusing to the shopper, and products that are packaged could help sales.
"They will comprehend the price of a prepack much quicker and easier," he said. "They know it, they like it saying 'that thing there will cost me $2.99, I understand it', it goes through quicker. They commonly see one kilo, yes, but how many apple in a kilo? I don't know. How many bananas? Not sure. So I'll buy five. We don't make it easy by using the kilo format. When we put it in the prepack, they love it."
Carrots were narrowly ahead of potatoes and tomatoes in terms of household penetration, or the number of households buying the products, with all three reaching 80 per cent of households.
"Carrots lead it, probably because they have the most diverse use," according to the Managing Director. "I can't think of another vegetable that has everything covered in a fairly mainstream consumption occasion. From baking to salad to roasting, carrots have the most diverse use. Unfortunately what we haven't seen in carrots is the same level of product development; different ways, different forms that may capture greater value."
In terms of Retail Purchase Quantity, cabbage came in on top, with potatoes, pumpkins, carrots and cauliflower rounding out the top five. Mr Kneebone says the size and weight of these products mean the retailers have to break them down into multiples, such as half and quarter portions, or package them in weight quantities to make them more 'workable'.
"People are shopping around four times a week," Mr Kneebone said. "We have nearly 18 per cent of households with one person in it. They don't want to buy anything they are going to throw out. The aversion to home waste is very, very strong and it's a driver to the portion size they buy."
Freshlogic also believe that the concept of the multi-buy has helped encourage draw in consumers and drive consumption. However the Managing Director warns against competitive product sets, saying that has an impact on the value and volume of products. That means when similar alternatives are available, such in soft cooked vegetables, consumers will trade them off, buying one at the expense of the other.
He also lists: Retail promotional options, Food service exposure (especially Quick Service Restaurants), Diversity of use with year round optimum and Home storage life, as other drivers.
