Safeway bacon buyer

"We're seeing a growing amount of imported raw material within the market. My major competitors are increasing the presence of Dutch, however I stock only British and Danish. Promotions are a key driver but an upcoming issue is the need to use methods to drive sales in other ways.
"A big challenge is to add value to sales. Bacon is a very impulse category, but without adding value and giving customers a genuine reason to buy at full price, the category will become devalued.
"On-pack promotions are perceived positively by customers, but unless they offer real savings, they don't drive sales."
Ben Wheeley
Sainsbury bacon buyer

"The past year has been dominated by heavyweight promotional activity, and this has been reflected in volume growth. A key challenge for the coming year will be maintaining the growth we've already achieved.When it comes to driving consumption we have undertaken extensive research through which we have identified a number of consumer needs, such as clearer labelling, and education/recipe suggestions especially on more traditional sectors such as joints and chops. Recently we have relaunched and rationalised our range in a simpler and more effective design to aid consumer choice."

Philip Godwin
Booths fresh food buyer

"British reared and cured bacon seems to be a high requirement of the consumer and another increasingly popular purchase is traditional cured bacon.
"Consistency in quality and supply will be main issues, with more customers seeking out fewer quality producers in this country and abroad.
"We need more innovation ­ in the creation of ready-to-cook joints in sauces or ready meals, which would encourage impulse sales.
"This would give the customers what they want ­ convenience and taste like bacon used to taste."

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