Presented in Berlin by Julie Criddle, Coregeo
The UK produce market finished 2022 at £13Bn, ahead of the pre-pandemic value (£12.7Bn in 2019), whilst volume remained slightly lower than pre-covid. According to Kantar, shoppers are buying less volume, but paying more due to the inflationary pressures in the market across produce.
Kantar data shows that Pink Lady® saw a strong performance, whilst value and volume was lower than the previous year, market share was gained. Year-on-year Pink Lady® value was down 3.8% versus the apple category at -8.2% and volume down 4.1% versus the category at -8.9%.
Throughout 2022, Pink Lady® UK continued to deliver moments of WOW to consumers. Although it was a challenging year to navigate, facing the aftermath of covid, Brexit and the unfolding situation in Ukraine, putting pressure on sales and volume, Pink Lady® still outperformed the total apple market in the UK. Recording 75 million kilograms and £265m annual sales of Pink Lady®, we achieved the highest-ever market share for Pink Lady® at 22.4%.
Celebrating thirty years of Pink Lady® in the UK through the ‘Thirty Years of WOW’ retail campaign, our biggest-ever trade campaign with 30 days of prizes including WOW weekend getaways across the UK and Europe garnered more than 70,000 entries. A hugely successful media partnership with Hello recorded over 7 million impressions.
Further elevating the brand in the UK, the SENSPLORATION public relations campaign showcased the multisensory experience of eating a Pink Lady® apple, recording over 158 million views. At the same time, the Pink Lady® brand’s alignment with FareShare through PinKids® saw over 1 million apples donated to the charitable food redistributor, increasing loyalty to the Pink Lady® brand.
Looking ahead to 2023, apple consumption in the home will be a priority for sales and marketing efforts as consumers swap the expense of dining out for tastier meals at home. With this, marketing fruit available to retailers, supporting licensees and grower partners and generating sustainable growth throughout the supply chain will set Pink Lady® UK up for success this coming year.
For northern hemisphere fruit, the key objective will be to hold the previous northern hemisphere sales positioning within the UK apple market, at 24.2% of UK households and 21.5% of the UK apple market. Driving and maintaining sales through retail shelf space, store allocation, and range will also be crucial to the Pink Lady® brand’s success, with branded pack loyalty / reward as the promotional focus.
And for the southern hemisphere, emphasis will be placed on driving volume, penetration and sales, re-engaging with consumers and supporting licensees with key retailer promotions.
