Trial sees grapes marketed by texture and taste

A supermarket is trialling the sale of grapes that are labelled with their flavour or texture.

Tesco will carry out the trial with their suppliers AMT Fresh, a Peterborough-based global fruit importer, and global fruit developers Bloom Fresh.

It aimed to better understand what customers prefer and help them understand what to expect with each purchase which carry labels such as "candy floss".

Tesco fruit technical manager James Cackett said there was much more variety to grapes than just red, green or black.

The chain said there were other fruits are sold by variety, for example apples - with Gala, Braeburn, Golden Delicious and many more.

As a further example, wine was sold by grape, flavour and style rather than simply red or white.

A trial in 220 Tesco stores saw grapes go on sale in three types of newly labelled packaging.

Early feedback indicated that shoppers favoured their grapes primarily by crunchy texture, next by tropical flavour and lastly by candy flavour.

Mr Cackett said: "Now with the advance in breeding technology we have the possibility to draw from many hundreds of new grape varieties which will allow us to deliver exactly what our customers want, and that's the reason why we have set up these trials."

He said it would "allow us to better gauge and understand the attributes our shoppers prefer".

Rachel Botha, head of commercial at AMT Fresh, said: "This project, which we are implementing with Tesco through the Jaffa brand, is the most far-reaching research ever undertaken in the UK to understand British consumers' table grape-eating preferences, redefining the way they are segmented and marketed.

"We are working with the world's foremost fruit breeding companies to supply the grapes that British shoppers want to consistently see on supermarket shelves.

"Thanks to advances in technology we now have the ability to do just that."

She said the trial "reflects the strengths of our breeding programmes, the commitment of growers eager to explore new possibilities, and Tesco's openness to pioneering shopper-focused initiatives".

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