Tesco trials new on-pack labelling to study UK grape preferences

A major study is currently underway to determine the key factors influencing grape purchases among UK consumers.

The trial, named Fruitology™, is taking place in Tesco stores nationwide and aims to identify shopper preferences in response to the increasing variety of table grapes available. Advances in natural varietal development have led to hundreds of different flavour and texture profiles.

Conducted in partnership with global fruit importers AMT FRESH, parent company AMFRESH Group, and fruit developers BLOOMFRESH, the trial is exclusively running under the Jaffa® brand.

To assess consumer choices, Tesco is offering grapes in packaging categorised by three key attributes – tropical flavour, candy flavour, and crunchiness.

Tesco Fruit Technical Manager James Cackett explains: If you ask anyone how many grape varieties there are, most people are likely to tell you three – red, green and black.

And that was pretty much the case until the turn of the century when fruit breeders began looking at how to naturally improve flavour, crunchiness and sweetness, which is a wholly natural process, to deliver better quality grapes all round. 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.

The Fruitology™ trials allow us to better gauge and understand the attributes our shoppers prefer.

Early findings from the 220-store trial indicate that UK shoppers prioritise grapes with a crunchy texture, followed by those with tropical flavours, while candy-flavoured varieties are the least preferred.