Retail sales of peppers in the UK were up 10.1% in volume but down 6.6% in value for the 52 weeks to October 11 compared to the same period a year before, Kantar Worldpanel data shows.
Altogether, 115,720 tons of peppers were sold, for a total spend of £291.4 million (€413m).
The top seller in the pepper category was the traffic light pack, which with just over 50,000 tons sold accounted for 43% of all pepper sales. Sales of this pack were up 20% in volume and 9.4% in value, to nearly £112 million (€413m).
It was a different story however for the next biggest sellers, large mixed packs and red peppers. While sales of the large mixed packs (which accounted for 36% of total sales) were up 14.3% in volume (to 41,798 tons), they were down 8.3% in value, and those of red peppers were down in both volume, by 9.6%, and in value, by 16.7%.
Comparing the two periods, specialty peppers saw by gar the biggest growth in volume and in value, with respective leaps of 120%, to 987 tons, and 46.8%, to £4.7 million (€6.67m). The next highest growth, and off a slightly bigger base, was seen with Ramiro/pointed peppers, which rose 25.4% in volume to 2,597 tons and 11.3% in value to just over £15 million (€21.4m).
All other categories slipped, however.