Page 30 - Retail World March 2021

FRESH FROM PAGE 27 “Having avocados available on the retail shelf at the right stages of ripeness is something we know is important to consumers, and this is a major focus for our work with retailers.” With sustainability and seasonality – buying ‘in-season’ – increasingly at the forefront of many shopper purchase decisions, Mr Tyas says the geographic spread of the country’s avocado growing regions means avocados are in season year-round. “This is important,” he said, “because Australians are big avocado consumers – more than 95 per cent of what we grow is eaten in Australia – and having a range of growing regions means they can always find Australian avocados at their preferred place of purchase. “Avocados Australia is actively working with retailers across Australia to support the avocado category at retail. We’ve employed a market development manager who is working closely with the retailers throughout the year. At the moment we’re working to support the transition from Hass to Shepard \[the two major varieties\] with promotion ideas, best-practice merchandising and our best estimates of supply volumes and timing. “We also manage an online crop-forecasting program whereby all major suppliers input their estimated harvest volumes on a weekly and monthly basis. The aggregated data from this system provides high-quality information about expected supply from week to week across all our production regions. This way, we can help everyone in the supply chain to deliver the freshest avocados to consumers every week of the year.” In terms of how retailers can improve their avocado offerings in-store, Mr Tyas says there is much they can do – with the support of AAL. “We have extensive retailer education materials to help retailers better manage their avocado category, and these are freely available to any retailer,” he said, adding that they can email AAL’s market development manager at mdm@avocado.org.au, or visit avocado.org.au. “Ensuring avocados are displayed at the right stage of ripeness is critical,” Mr Tyas said. “Ensuring good internal eating quality of avocados is, of course, a no-brainer. However, these are two areas where there’s still a lot of improvement required. “One of the main internal defects of avocados is bruising. From previous research, we know that avocados are most susceptible to bruising once they start to ripen and soften.” Consequently, almost all avocado bruising occurs at retail shelf and through consumer handling, Mr Tyas says. “In a survey of Australian avocado consumers, 97 per cent admitted to squeezing the fruit before purchasing it,” he said. “And research shows consumers ‘test’, on average, three times more fruit than they actually buy, but less than half thought this impacted on the quality of the avocado. We always tell people that you should treat your avocados like eggs – gently.” One way to minimise avocado injuries, Mr Tyas advises, is through POS signage, technology and packaging. “Avocados Australia strongly supports avocado merchandising in a split display format where ripe fruit (ready to eat today or tomorrow) is separated from unripe fruit (ready to eat in two to three days),” he said. “A research trial of this merchandising concept proved that this results in increased sales and less bruising. The trial resulted in a 16 per cent increase in the number of customers purchasing avocados, a 47 per cent increase in customers purchasing two or more avocados, and overall a 30 per cent increase in avocados purchased per customer. Also, the format resulted in a 41 per cent reduction in the number of fruit squeezes per fruit purchased, and a 60 per cent reduction in the amount of bruising. “Implementing this format is easy for smaller independents, and the benefits are obvious. For the major retailers, the logistics are more challenging, but we’re very keen to support all retailers to implement this format.” All about family, fruit and fun Originally located in the residential suburb of Oakleigh, in Melbourne’s south east, Alexanders Fruit Market – now also located at the Dandenong Market – began supplying customers with fresh fruit and vegetables sourced from produce in Victoria and around the world in 1994. Director of Alexanders Fruit Market, Oakleigh, David Zahlan, tells Retail World he is relatively “new to the ranks” at the store, taking over a new store in 2012 in Oakleigh, branding it under the family company name, Alexanders, and adding an extra store to it. Commenting on how the fresh category is performing, Mr Zahlan says it has “never been better”. “I can’t think of a time when fresh produce has been selling in these volumes,” he said. “The demand for it is incredible.” A reason for this, he adds, is simply that “people want to eat fruit and veg”. “\[People\] ... are getting excited about fruit and veg,” he said, “they want to know more. Where is it from? What are the varieties? What does it taste like?” While he says interest in fruit and vegetables was “kind of lost” a few years ago, “customer passion for food and knowing about it seems to be sparkling again – and we can see that through our social media”. TO PAGE 30 28 RETAIL WORLD MAR, 2021