Prune news COVID boost for prunes

COVID boost for prunes

Prune sales are up thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, and the trend looks set to continue with market research targeting consumers.

At the 2020 Australian Prune Industry Association Annual Conference, Angas Park marketing manager Matt Jenkins told delegates that dried fruit channels would reach close to $200 million by the end of 2020.

Matt said the big five fruits – sultanas, prunes, apricots, cranberries and dates – accounted for 60 per cent of the value and 70 per cent of the tonnage.

“Sultanas are the biggest category, worth $40 million, and are followed closely by prunes at $32m,” he said.

“But all eyes are on prunes, which have shown remarkable growth in the past couple of years.”

Monthly prune sales in August 2018 were $2.50m, rising to $2.78m in 2019 and $2.94m in 2020 (Figure 1) – a 5.6 per cent increase in the last 12 months.

The most significant increase occurred in March 2020, at the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia, when sales went from $2.28m in 2019 to $3.49m in 2020 – a massive 52 per cent rise.

The data shows an upward trend in sales for the entire 2020 year, where 2800 tonnes of prunes were packaged into 5.3m units and sold for $32m.

Most of the prunes are sold on the domestic market.

Matt said Australian prunes dominated the local market, but the marketplace was becoming increasingly complex due to the number of international competitors. “Angas Park has the largest market share (59 per cent of value in 2020), with other suppliers including private labels from Chile (18 per cent of market), California’s Sunsweet label (13 per cent) and Australia’s Verity Fruits (10 per cent),” he said.

“If Ausprunes are to maintain and grow their market share in what is becoming an increasingly global marketplace, it is important to know what is driving sales of prunes and how we can affect this.”

Analysis of September 2020 scanned shopping purchases in Australia showed 75 per cent of Australian households bought dried fruit.

Over one million households purchased prunes last year and prunes accounted for six of the top 20 dried fruit SKUs (stock-keeping unit; a scannable bar code).

“It showed that prune eaters really love prunes and eat lots of them,” Matt said.

“Those households that purchased dried fruits consume 2.4 kilograms of prunes annually, compared to 1.6kg of sultanas and 742g of apricots.

“But only 1 in 9 households purchased prunes.”

Matt said the key was to find out who was, and was not, eating prunes and what were the purchase drivers and barriers.

Traditionally, older, “health conscious” Australians have been the main consumers of prunes. Encouraging early adoption of a healthy lifestyle among this group will be an important long-term driver of growth, Matt said.

“The significance of this demographic is realised when you look at the number of potential prune purchasers it represents,” he said.

“In 2020, 15 per cent of the population (3.7m people) is aged 65 and over. However, an ageing population sees this figure triple to an estimated 12.8m and 25 per cent of population by 2057.”

The elderly are not the only ones to eat prunes, and if the industry is to continue to grow it will be important to introduce prunes earlier in life.

Currently, more than 25 per cent of unit sales come from families, but this could be much higher.

“Very few consumers purchased prunes to use in a recipe – perhaps because they don’t know how versatile prunes are, and are unaware of the various uses in snacking, cooking and entertaining,” Matt said.

“Or it could simply be that purchases are not made because no one in the family ate prunes. Almost half of the respondents identified this as a huge purchase barrier.

“Broadening the appeal of prunes is vital to growing future sales.”

APIA has been working to educate consumers about the health benefits of prunes as well as providing innovative recipe ideas that feature prunes in a variety of dishes.

APIA president Tony Toscan said COVID-19 had disrupted the industry’s hands-on promotional effort, but plans were to resume attendance at food fairs when possible.

“Experience has shown sampling is an important tool to overcome purchase barriers,” he said.

“After all, we all know, if you try prunes, you’ll love them. We just need people to try them for the first time.” v

Phil Chidgzey APIA national secretariat secretary@ausprunes.org.au

PURCHASE DRIVER

I wanted a healthy treat

Because they are healthy

I wanted something to snack on during the day

I planned to use them in a recipe

PURCHASE BARRIER PRUNES SULTANAS APRICOTS

46%

52%

29%

18% 44%

38%

40%

40% 52%

40%

46%

27%

No one in my family eats them 48%

Table 1: Drivers and barriers affecting purchase of Australian dried fruits

Figure 1: COVID-19 lockdown has helped drive growth of Australian prunes

Figure 2: Breakdown of annual household consumption of dried fruits in Australia. This represents households that purchase dried fruits, not total households. Consumers who eat prunes eat lots of them, but only 1 in 9 households eat any. 20% 22%

4,00 4,000 0 3,50 3,500 0 3,00 3,000 0

2,505 2,505 2,451 2,451 2,511 2,511 2,519 2,519 2,50 2,500 0

2,264 2,264 2,184 2,184 1,999

2,00 2,000 0 Australia, Dollars (000s)Australia, Dollars (000s) +52%+52%

3,491 3,491 +5.6%+5.6%

2,460 2,287 2,287 2,302 2,302 1,999 2,743 2,743 2,781 2,781 2,783 2,783 2,460 2,525 2,525 2,543 2,543 2,576 2,576 2,348 2,348 2,169 2,169 2,228 2,228 2,934 2,934 2,940 2,940 2,672 2,672 2,754 2,754 2,739 2,739

1,50 1,500 0 1,00 1,000 0 500 500 MAR 2019 MAR 2019 MAR 2020 MAR 2020

AUG 2018SEPT 2018 OCT 2018 NOV 2018DEC 2018JAN 2019FEB 2019 MAR 2019APR 2019 MAY 2019JUN 2019JUL 2019 AUG 2019SEPT 2019 OCT 2019 NOV 2019DEC 2019JAN 2020FEB 2020MAR 2020APR 2020MAY 2020JUN 2020JUL 2020AUG 20200 AUG 2018SEPT 2018 OCT 2018 NOV 2018DEC 2018JAN 2019FEB 2019 MAR 2019APR 2019 MAY 2019JUN 2019JUL 2019 AUG 2019SEPT 2019 OCT 2019 NOV 2019DEC 2019JAN 2020FEB 2020MAR 2020APR 2020MAY 2020JUN 2020JUL 2020AUG 20200

Grams per household per yearGrams per household per year

2,4352,435

1,6021,602

2.4KG2.4KG PER PER HOUSEHOLDHOUSEHOLD

SULTANAS PRUNESSULTANAS PRUNES 742 742

APRICOTSAPRICOTS 482 482

CRANBERRIESCRANBERRIES 925 925

DATESDATES