The shelf life of berries does not matter as much to German consumers
The French like blueberries less than the British. Out-of-season berries have less flavor. Germans eat "berries" especially for breakfast. Of these three statements, the first is true, the second is a prejudice held by many consumers, and the third is completely false, as shown by the results of the study carried out by Ipsos Mori, and presented by Pippa Bailey at the Global Berry Congress. , where he shed some light on the British, French and German markets.
In the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the undisputed favorite is strawberry, as more than a third of respondents in the three countries admitted to buying strawberries in the last twelve months. Likewise, raspberries and blackberries also receive good scores in the three markets, with 25% and 20% buyers, respectively, but the result of the blueberries is more varied. Both the British and the Germans exceed the 20%, but France stays at the 14%, which means that there are far fewer French consumers who buy blueberries.
Generation gap in consumption
Looking more closely at the participant data, something else stands out, and that is that young people are barely represented, something that occurs in all types of "berries" except blueberries. “We see a spike in the 15-34 age bracket, which tends to have to do with those in this group having families, and blueberries being family-friendly,” Bailey explains.
In any case, to attract younger consumers, Bailey sees opportunities, for example, in frozen fruit, and also adds that the prices of "berries" can be a barrier for this group. As for the frozen sector, OctoFrost, a Swedish company that offers IQF refrigeration machines, also considers it promising, so Anna Dyc spoke at the event about these machines, emphasizing that freezing fruits is a way to reduce costs. waste. Anna Dyc estimates that 20% of the berry harvest is lost during cultivation and another 3% during post-harvest treatments, all before the products even reach consumers. “Freezing the products requires special machinery to really extend their shelf life”, according to Dyc.
The moments of consumption depend on each country
On the other hand, between the three countries there are big differences regarding the moment in which the “berries” are usually consumed. On the one hand, British consumers eat them more at breakfast, especially blueberries and strawberries, although these fruits have also made their way as "snacks", a category in which strawberries are in particular demand.
On the contrary, the French prefer croissants and baguettes for breakfast instead of "berries", which only occupy a small percentage. Similarly, in France, the snack culture is less developed, according to Bailey, so it is not surprising that berries are hardly eaten as snacks, but they do enjoy a good position as desserts, since it is the when they are consumed the most. Finally, German consumers stand out for consuming "berries" as "snacks", particularly strawberries. "In Germany, more fruit is consumed in total and more constantly", says Bailey.
The useful life is less important
However, there are two points on which the Germans, the French and the British agree. In all three countries, the most important thing when buying berries is the taste, followed by the value for money. However, in the rest of the issues they show clear differences: while the Germans consider the appearance of the fruits important, the French and the British value it less.
There are also big differences in the organic sector, a factor that the British consider less important when buying berries, but in France it has much more value. Similarly, while the French and Germans clearly value local products, the UK does not see it as relevant. Finally, compared to the other two countries, shelf life is less important to German consumers. "Germans consume fruit faster than in the UK or France, so shelf life matters less to them".
Interestingly, consumers also have a lot of prejudices or misconceptions. For example, 79% of the French believe that berries do not taste as good out of season, despite all efforts to market tasty varieties. This percentage is also quite high in Germany, with 64%, and in the United Kingdom, with 42% of consumers.
The same occurs with the proportion of imported fruits in the supply of each country. The three countries overestimate the share of imported strawberries, but the opposite occurs with raspberries. The French believe that 49% of raspberries are imported, when the real percentage is 75%. Finally, in Germany, consumers also overestimate the percentages of all imported berries.
Source: Freshplaza.es
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