UK retailer Tesco has said that demand for prepared fruit and vegetable products has grown by 10% in the last two years, as customers opt for healthy ready meals, snacks and side dishes.
This includes carbohydrate alternatives such as courgette or carrot spaghetti, which have seen sales grow by 40%, as well as organic prepared salads (+90%) and healthy fruit snacks such as melon and mango fingers (+400%).
“For growing numbers of shoppers, the fruit and veg aisle is now the first destination they will head to, to find innovative and delicious new meals if they are pressed for time, and looking for fresh food they can cook quickly," said Elizabeth Hall, Tesco's prepared-produce buyer.
“Until about five years ago, the main prepared fruit and veg items were stir-fry mixes, sides like roasting trays of vegetables, and fruit snack packs. These have been so popular that we began to expand the range in order to further help customers who are short on time but still want to experience the joy of cooking fresh food.”
Health And Sustainability
Tesco says that the popularity of these products is having a great environmental knock-on effect, as a number of dishes allow growers and producers to utilise all of their crops and reduce food waste.
For example, small cauliflowers are now being used to make prepared vegetable dishes such as cauliflower couscous, while misshapen carrots are being spiralised to create carrot spaghetti.
Due to the growing popularity of these products, Tesco is about to extend its range of prepared vegetable, fruit and salad dishes.
Some of the new products to be launched include mushroom burgers, beetroot burgers, potato wedges with katsu dip and crunch quinoa, and fajita mix with peppers and onions.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
