D'aucy tinned sprouts

Convenience is trumping tradition this year as a growing number of Brits get set to serve canned sprouts with their Christmas dinner.

Sales of canned Brussels sprouts rose 13% year on year in November, according to distributor RH Amar, which carries a 400g can produced by French supplier D’aucy (rsp: 69p).

About 80,000 cans are sold annually to businesses including Nisa, Bestway and Parfetts by the distributor, which said it also supplied much larger volumes to foodservice.

“The convenience of a canned product appears to appeal to shoppers planning their festive feast,” said James Amar, product marketing manager for D’aucy at RH Amar. “A canned product also helps to cut waste.”

While convenience was driving sales of sprouts, RH Amar said trends including growing interest in scratch cooking and baking had helped its overall volume sales grow 6.6% year on year [January to November 2013 vs 2012].

Last month, The Grocer reported sales of fresh Brussels sprouts had grown 23% by volume [Kantar Worldpanel 12 w/e 10 November].