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Redbridge Launches 5 A Day Fruit Snacking Range Nationwide

Redbridge says trials selling loose fresh fruit into WHSmith and high street Boots stores have proved such a success that is new 5 A Day fruit snacking range will be rolled out nationwide. 100 retail travel units of WHSmith and 27 Boots stores in the London/M25 area now stock fresh fruit under the Redbridge 5 A Day brand. The range will also be supplied nationwide to 60 Welcome Break motorway service stations and petrol forecourts and 60 UNS hospital stores.

Consumers will be able to buy a single piece of fresh fruit, retailing at 49p, from Redbridge purpose-built branded merchandising units under the company's registered 5 A Day trademark which also advertises the Government's 5 A Day logo. Shoppers will have a choice of new season stock Braeburn or Granny Smith apples and bananas individually selected and packed into trays. The units are sited, where possible, in the queuing system in WHSmith which has led to a high number of impulse purchases and close to the sandwich/food fixtures in Boots stores.

The apples are individually selected and hand packed and are monitored for sugar levels for sweetness and pressures to ensure a crisp texture. The bananas are individually cut and hand packed by a specialist banana ripener, who provides the fruit to an agreed colour stage and quality. Redbridge offers specific training to all retailers to provide the best possible environment for merchandising, storing and handling the products, including where the produce is sited in-store.

The Redbridge 5 A Day brand, offering both snacking and convenience ranges, was launched to introduce fruit and vegetables into sales environments that have not traditionally sold fresh produce. The concept offers consumers a consistently high standard of fresh produce available outside of the major supermarkets. An exciting range of new products is being prepared for launch in the late summer and autumn.

Commenting on the new range, Steve Harrison, managing director of Redbridge Produce & Flowers said: "The 5 A Day snacking brand is aimed at retail stores, where retailers can offer high quality single fresh fruit to consumers who are on their lunch hour, on the move or as an impulse purchase. The 5 A Day branch demonstrates Redbridge's commitment to making fresh produce more accessible to everyone."