As specialists in food PR and marketing we were naturally interested in the news that medical professionals now recommend consuming between seven and ten pieces of fruit and veg per day, rather than the previous prescription of five. Needless to say, it could well mean a packaging redesign for many products, and that’s just for starters; consider the increase in ‘real fruit’ content since the ‘5 A Day’ message began.
On the face of it the new optimum intake sounds potentially over-facing. Anyone who regularly eats five or more whilst still enjoying meat and other luxuries will already understand it’s not always as easy as it sounds, but needless to say in terms of headline-grabbing medical advice this is a far cry from the whole ‘should we or shouldn’t we enjoy a glass of red a day’ scenario. The fact of the matter is, the more greens and fruits we eat the healthier we will be because that’s how our bodies work.
The age-old adage used to be that Britain was a nation of foul food. Needless to say, plenty has changed, not least our ability to better monitor and gauge how many nasties compared to goodies we’re putting in our stomachs. Combined with the proliferation of local sourcing and micro-producers (whether they brew beer or prepare 6oz ostrich burgers), and you might say that despite ongoing obesity problems, the U.K. has been experiencing a gastronomic revolution for over two decades now. In short, we are becoming far more bothered about the quality of our daily cuisine, and its impact on our health.
Nutritious diets are big business too. Innocent provides the most obvious example of a grass roots start up that has grown into a huge company (big enough to secure a nice cheque from McDonalds), all off the back of our increasing interest in the pursuit of good-for-you meals, snacks and refreshments. It also ranked as number one for both Twitter and Facebook in the infographic, 18 Healthy Food Brands that Dominate in Social. Nevertheless, the smoothie-maker is far from the only player on an increasingly busy block, so here are four more great brands that can help with the seven-to-ten pieces of fruit and veg per day problem, each of which we like for a few more reasons than the simple fact they sell fruit and veg.
 

graze
Gorgeous packaging and web design combined with a simple proposition- boxes of healthy snacks delivered to your door- make for an impressive overall offering. Meanwhile, the reinvention of the Jaffa Cake is exactly the kind of innovation we like here on Quay Street.
 
 

Suma Wholefoods 
One of the biggest names in the health food game is all about transparency, whether that’s in terms of what goes into the breakfast cereal, the ethical sourcing of all ingredients, or the co-operative structure of the overall business. As regular blog readers will know, we agree with this notion of talking straight and putting some money where the mouth is.
 
 

Urban Fruit 
By taking good, honest fruits and baking them at low temperatures, thus ensuring all the natural qualities are in tact when the berries and so forth are placed into packets, Urban Fruit has seen sales growth of 114% over the past two years, and is expected to deliver over 34m portions of fruit in 2014. That equates to around one piece for every other person in the UK.
 
 

Livewell
If you’re gym doesn’t have one of these 21st Century vending machines then you should probably join another. Along with slick marketing- the focus here being on fueling active, successful people- the gadgets, designed to sell healthy snacks, boast touchscreen interfaces, can provide nutritional information and offer cashless payment options, placing them at the forefront of the industry.
 
 

Good4U
Available in Tescos and Sainsburys here in the UK, along with a variety of stockists in Good4U’s Irish homeland, packets of seeds, shoots and wheatgrass are sold alongside an own-branded juicer. All of which taste great, and are well complemented by a strong online presence with a website featuring a useful blog and plenty of delicious recipes for visitors to read.
 
 
Top image (C) Andy Roberts