Mark Newton
Managing Director
Freshtime UK
Lincolnshire, UK
Q: In October last year you joined Lincolnshire-based Freshtime UK as managing director from salad giant Florette. Can you tell us why you made the move and what brought you to Freshtime in particular?
A: Freshtime is a business that I’d kept my eye on for many, many years. I was at Florette for 12-and-a-half years and I saw the range of products that Freshtime was supplying (prepared salads, vegetables, snacks and deli/sandwich fillers), as well as their innovation and speed to market in terms of turning around ideas very quickly. I always envied that so when the opportunity came to join Freshtime I jumped at the chance. It’s a business that’s involved in product sectors that are very on trend such as convenience, healthy eating and chilled food. It was a no-brainer really.
Q: What did you learn at Florette that you’ve been able to bring to and implement at Freshtime?
A: Obviously both firms supply similar categories in terms of bagged salads, snacks and vegetables so a lot of what I’ve learned during the past 12 or 13 years is very relevant for Freshtime. For instance, the importance of understanding consumers. At Freshtime we very much look at what consumers want rather than what we’re growing in the field, whereas many companies are very field based, i.e. they grow ‘x’, so they sell ‘x’. Freshtime looks at what consumers want and then works backwards. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learnt – that understanding your customers (retailers) and consumers (end users) is critical. It sounds obvious but it’s a step that a lot of companies do miss.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about Freshtime being ripe for expansion and about to take off. Why is this?
A: When you look at the production capabilities of Freshtime we’ve really only just scratched the surface of our product areas. If you look at salads for example, we’re probably selling to two or three major customers which leaves thousands more that we don't currently supply. I think the whole area of food-on-the-go is pretty untapped so there are opportunities there. Also the foodservice arena is something that we haven’t really attacked with any anger. Eating out in the UK is on the rise; we seem to be following the American model where a high percentage of all dollars spent on food is outside of the home. The UK isn’t at that level yet so I think foodservice is a sector where we’ll see growth. We’ve also got a lot of new products in the pipeline at the moment so the opportunities are huge for Freshtime.
Q: Can you tell us about these new products that you are developing?
A: There’s nothing specific that I can say at the moment, apart from watch this space! What I can tell you is that we’re developing some innovative products for snacking in terms of the ingredients, packaging and brands that we’re using.
Q: Do you have any other objectives in your role as managing director of Freshtime?
A: Freshtime has been growing for many years, so my job is really about continuing that growth and taking the company to the next level which is to turn it into a world-class business. It’s already an excellent business so we now need to grow it and raise its profile. Up until the last six months Freshtime hasn’t really shouted very loudly about its activities.
Q: So, what’s your strategy for future growth? How do you plan to turn Freshtime into a world-class business?
A: By understanding our customers and our consumers. There are real opportunities for a company like Freshtime which is small enough and nimble enough to respond very quickly to what people are demanding. We’re not a huge machine that takes a year or 18 months to churn out new products once all the investment decisions have been made and all the processes have been gone through. At Freshtime, we have ideas, we sit around and discuss them and then we put a product in place pretty quickly. So it’s about retaining that nimbleness and that can-do attitude on a larger scale while keeping an eye on the consumer.
Q: Freshtime says it will be the company that all prepared vegetable and salad producers try to copy. What are you doing differently to other suppliers? Why does your approach work?
A: A lot of companies in our category historically are farmers so they grow one product, carrots for example, and they focus on selling that product, whereas consumers might actually want moolis (a white, radish-like vegetable), etc. A business like Freshtime has the flexibility to source those newly-demanded products. We operate as though we are growers in terms of our controls – we have a team of agronomists that work in the field, we have seed specialists and all the things you need to control crops – but we aren’t beholden to what’s in our fields. So if consumers are into stir fries, or whatever it may be at the time, we are nimble enough to follow the trends. Whereas if you’ve got several thousands of acres of carrots or broccoli that you own then clearly your focus is going to be different. I think that’s why the market has developed very little in terms of the products on offer because there are thousands of acres out there that are filled with carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc., and therefore it’s very difficult to make huge, sweeping changes to the product offer. Freshtime, however, focuses on consumers so our product development comes from what consumers want and not what we’re growing.
Q: How is Freshtime working to understand exactly what UK consumers want?
A: One of the activities that we’re looking to do more of is using social media to engage consumers. I think that’s one way that you can get a lot more information and invite a lot more people to come and talk to you about your products; why they love your products, why they hate your products, why they buy them, why they don’t buy them. We also organize consumer focus groups with 10 or 20 people to try to inspire a bit of conversation about food in general. I think if you try to make it too commercial it doesn’t work because consumers spot that. So it’s best to keep it fairly generic and then you’ll get some pretty good insight.
Q: Is understanding your end user one of the reasons that you’ve set up the Freshtime Fun Club for local primary school children?
A: Yes, that’s pretty key in terms of the work we’re doing to try and make people understand where their food comes from. In Lincolnshire when you drive around you see fields full of fresh produce everywhere but it’s actually making the link between what it’s the field and how it gets to your fridge, which is often lost on a lot of people. It’s been a real eye-opener and real good fun as well when you see the enthusiasm of the kids.
Q: Are the children surprised when they find out where their food comes from and what goes into the whole process from field to fork?
A: Well, that particular school that we work with is already doing a tremendous amount of work around the subject of food so it wasn’t a blank canvas as such. But, even so, when they see the scale of our operation and the number of heads of broccoli that go into a site like Freshtime it is surprising because they’re used to only seeing a little floret of broccoli on their plate. We’re also showing the kids the whole process in terms of how you select the seeds, what kind of soil you need and how you grow the crops. We’re taking them right back to basics and then through processing, washing and bagging to let them understand the whole process.
Q: Was the idea behind the Freshtime Fun Club part of how you’re looking to understand consumer demands or was it more to ensure the longevity of fresh produce consumption and sales by encouraging healthy eating and raising awareness among tomorrow’s consumers?
A: I think a bit of both really. If kids are talking with their parents around the dinner table in the evening about what they saw at a produce company and the importance of healthy eating that is great because we all assume that people talk about eating five fruits and vegetables a day (5-a-day) while in reality it’s not high on people’s list of priorities. But it’s more about trying to encourage the next generation of food technologists or product development technologists by getting people interested in food from a very early age. We work with the University of Lincoln to tap into that next stage of people getting ready to join the work industry. For example, recently we’ve taken on an apprentice and we’re looking for other apprentices too. It’s really about engaging with the local community.
Q: UK consumers are increasingly being told to watch what they eat and recently the government recommended eating 10 fruits and vegetables each day. Even so, do you think there is still a lack of proper education about how to eat healthily and the important role that fresh fruit and vegetables plays in nutrition?
A: I think so because for every positive story about eating 5-a-day and why fruits and vegetables are important I think there’s always another story like ‘chocolate can save you from getting cancer’ for example. There’s always a counter argument. Generally speaking, people do get very, very confused. They know that they should be eating fruits and vegetables but there’s always another more appealing story. I think a lot of the work that we’ve done at Freshtime suggests that people know they should eat more fruits and vegetables but it’s not always that easy and sometimes it’s not that appealing. There are some pretty basic products out there which aren’t particularly inspiring.
Q: Is that what Freshtime is trying to do – make consumers more excited about produce by providing a more appealing offer that’s also convenient so that they can eat healthily wherever they are?
A: Absolutely. I think the market has developed significantly in the last few years. Five years ago the average motorway service station in the UK wouldn’t have offered a lot of choice for those looking to eat healthily. We have moved on since then but I think there’s still an awful lot of work to do to put healthy snacks in front of people where they want to buy and even if they’re on the go.
Q: Do you feel that it’s up to companies like yourselves – the growers and suppliers of produce – to really get involved and make a difference in terms of encouraging fresh produce consumption in the UK?
A: Yes, it is because if we don’t do it I don’t think anyone else is going to. As an industry we’ve all got to try to understand more about why more people aren’t buying fresh produce. When you look at the penetration levels in prepared vegetables it’s still way down compared with some other categories. I think a lot of that comes down to us not putting the right products in the right places. A lot of the industry looks at data from previous months and previous years but we don’t actually look at where people are going to be buying produce next year. That’s one of the threats for the industry – if we don’t innovate and engage with consumers they just turn off completely. We’ve got to listen more and start talking more with consumers because if we don’t keep pace with demand and if we don’t offer products that consumers want to buy we’ll see a long, slow decline.
Q: So, what do you think are the right products for UK consumers? What do they really want?
A: I think convenience is obviously still at the forefront of people’s minds but in the last five or six years consumers have started questioning value a lot more. For instance, if you offer chopped carrots there’s not a lot of added value so consumers will ask why is there a premium attached to that product. So, whereas previously consumers accepted that they didn’t have the time to chop carrots they’re now asking whether it’s actually value for money. I think product ranges and product development have to take that into account. Sometimes we either try to go too far so we make products too complex and consumers don’t see the value, or we make them too basic and consumers don’t see the value there either. It’s up to us to do more for consumers and engage with them more to understand why they’re not buying in to a certain product – is it because they don’t see the value for money or is it because it doesn’t excite them?
Q: What’s on trend at the moment with UK consumers in terms of prepared vegetables?
A: Much of what Freshtime is looking at in terms of prepared vegetables is trying to move consumers on from basic vegetables. We’ve seen a lot of interest in concepts like vegetable crumbles or vegetable gratins which have traditionally been perceived as quite heavy, winter vegetable options. So we’re looking at concepts like light, summer vegetables with simple non-heavy and oil-based dressings that are quick and easy to prepare, such as Mediterranean vegetables ready to roast in the oven or vegetable brochettes that can be used on the barbeque. We’ve just got to be careful about not going down the route of ready meals by keeping the offer fairly light and unprocessed.
Q: And, finally, how about the prepared salads category – what are UK consumers currently demanding from that department?
A: In the salad category the spiced or strong flavored salads like a fruity, Moroccan cous cous salad are really strong at the moment. In general really interesting flavors are proving popular like Moroccan, Thai and even Lebanese. We’re also seeing a lot of growth in multi-component salads, i.e. those that have a lot of different elements, such as 12-13 different ingredients that could include salad, quinoa, croutons and a sauce. Multi-component is definitely the way forward at the moment. Certainly if you look around London area in particular there are a lot of salad outlets opening up that are doing fantastically, like Itsu. Overall, there are always the old favorites in the salad and sandwich market that remain in the top 10. But you have to remember that in general what people eat today, they won’t be eating tomorrow, so you must ensure that your ranges are refreshed quite often.
Source: Perishable News
