Increasing numbers of shoppers across the United Kingdom are choosing a salad over a sandwich, wrap or roll and it is the healthier end of the salad market that is growing the fastest.
The growing trend has prompted Tesco to completely overhaul and more than treble its “On the go” salad range to nearly 50 lines, including a number of new seafood-based products.
The latest retail data from market research company IRI finds that in the last 52 weeks demand for leafy salads and lighter, healthy salads has grown by 13 percent and 19 percent, respectively. By comparison, the latest Nielsen data shows that the U.K. sandwich market has grown by 5 percent in the last year.
Included in Tesco’s new range are: Crayfish and Mango Salad; King Prawn, Spicy Charlotte Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Lime Dressing; and Salmon and Edamame Sushi Rice Salad.
“The quality and range of ready-to-eat salads has improved so much in recent years that they are attracting shoppers who might otherwise have bought a sandwich, roll or wrap,” said Helen Dwyer, salad buyer for Tesco.
“Traditionally, sales of prepared salads would rise during the summer months and drop again during the winter. Now, because of the exciting number of new gourmet salads available that demand is not only sustained throughout the year but is bringing in plenty of new customers who might otherwise have chosen a sandwich as a lunchtime snack,” she said.
The new Tesco salad range also includes four new first-to-market lines that can be eaten hot or cold.
