Fresh Express beelines on safety for recovery in salad sales

Bringing shoppers back to salads in the wake of health scares will require product innovation and reassurances on safety. 

But salad expert Fresh Express is also turning to influencers to rebuild confidence and make salad relevant to younger shoppers. 

At the Global Produce & Floral Show in Orlando, Florida, company Vice President of Marketing Fabian Pereira told FreshFruitPortal.com that, as the industry strives to recover from the recent decline in sales, putting consumers at ease matters more than discounts.

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How far has the salad category recovered?

We've been tracking this on a daily basis, looking at retailer card data, weekly scan data across the industry, and receipts panels. 

At the trough, the salad category was down 36 percent. We're now down 16 percent, so there has been a recovery of 20 percentage points. Now, what we've got to figure out is how to get back to flat.

Which shoppers are you particularly focused on?

We knew the why, but we didn't know who was not buying or buying less. So, we spent time piloting primary research to study that.

One important group is our most frequent shoppers: 20 percent of shoppers account for 57 percent of the category. They are still buying, but buying less, so we need to give them reasons to eat salads more often.

Another group is consumers under 30 who have stepped back from the category. Kits are particularly relevant to them because they make preparation easier. We need to show them enjoyable meals they can create at home.

What do shoppers say they need before returning?

They want more food safety messaging. They still want to know their products are safe. They basically said that if there are no recalls over the next few weeks, they're going to come back: “Tell us how you grow your product, how you pack your product, how you ship your product.” 

We actually produced videos, unedited and unfiltered, on each of these seven steps to show them what happens right from the field to the store.

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Can promotions accelerate the recovery?

Most people think that if you give price promotions, they'll come, but the issue is not price promotion. Any price promotion that you run, you're not getting the same lift that you're getting before. Price is not even in the top six factors of why they'll come back to the category. 

No, we need to address the reasons people have reduced their purchases.

How do you do that?

That's the reason why we activated all our big influencers: because if the salad is good enough for them to eat, it's good enough for their followers. 

We work with eight influencers who have a total following of 200 million people. Instead of us putting our messages out there, they are speaking to people, and nobody in the industry has got the sway that these influencers have.

We are also working with nutrition professionals and giving retailers opportunities to ask questions. The aim is to offer reassurance and inspiration together, with relevant recipes and practical ideas people can use at home.

How important is innovation to that effort?

You cannot take your foot off the pedal. We are launching two new kits and planning another launch in March next year. 

Innovation gives people reasons to return and to use salads on more occasions.

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Where do you see longer-term opportunities?

GLP-1 users are thinking carefully about what they eat and looking for meals that count nutritionally. We see an opportunity for salads in that shift.

More broadly, we want to move salads from being a side dish to the main meal and encourage people to eat them more often.

Written by Tom Azzopardi | Reported by Ed Vernon in Orlando, Florida. 

*Main image by Ed Vernon. All other images are referential via Shutterstock. 

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