Heating or eating? British berry supplier comments on the UK market reality

Rodanto is a berry and citrus grower, packer, importer, and exporter hailing from the United Kingdom. This week, at the Morocco Berry Conference, Fructidor chatted with Mr. Edward Velasco, Rodanto Import Manager, and learned the latest retail and consumption of the UK market.

 

Rodanto’s packing house is located in Kent (South England) while the production areas are spread across Spain, and South Africa, including Morocco, where it created a joint venture with a local partner back in 2015. 

 

Heating or eating?

Speaking about the general economy, Edward pointed out that 2023 would be the biggest recessive for decades.  He explained: «Food price inflation in the UK hit 14.6% in September due to various reasons: energy, logistics, packaging, while all British tabloids titles keep on saying: «Eating or Heating». In 2021, soft berries sales had a double-digit increase, but it’s all different now, consumers will orient their choices towards lower prices.»

 

Discounters and convenience stores are developing

Concerning retail chains, the manager commented that the discounters such as Aldi & Lidl are taking market shares. There is also a saturation of supermarkets in the country, development is now on convenience stores, which will result in smaller sales units and adapted packaging. Retailers want growers to strictly respect the quality standards and want suppliers to have a proven environmental strategy.

 

More berries grown in the UK

«Another point to consider is the increase in strawberries and blueberries production in the UK. Lots of investments have been done recently. We have seen newcomers on the market as the famous Dyson company which invested a lot in soft berries production. British retailers usually prefer to buy from the UK if they have the choice, so this could also impact imported produce sales.», concludes Velasco.

 

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