Specialty peppers catching on at retail

With consumers buying more chili peppers every year, specialty peppers are taking up a larger portion of retail.

According to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2020 survey, 12% of consumers who say they now buy a larger variety of fresh produce than they did 20 years ago are also buying specialty peppers.

In 2018, sales for specialty peppers totaled to more than $264 million, increasing from the previous year, according to research firm IRI.   

Mike Mauti, managing partner and senior vice president in client services at Toronto-based Execulytics Consulting, explained that sales vary based on demographics.

Consumers age 18-39 and those 50-58 were equally likely to buy fresh specialty peppers, at 15%, compared with 11% of those 40-49 and 13% of those 59+, according to Fresh Trends.

Consumers with an annual household income of more than $100,000 were the most likely to purchase specialty peppers, at 19%, followed by 17% of those earning $50,000-$99,000 a year, according to Fresh Trends. 

Twelve percent of those earning $25,000-$49,000 were likely to buy specialty peppers, compared with 8% of those making less than $25,000 a year, according to Fresh Trends.

In areas with higher numbers of Hispanic consumers or those from the West Indies or the Caribbean, chili peppers are more likely to be sold in bulk because they are seen as staple products, while in areas with fewer consumers from those backgrounds, peppers are more likely to be sold in smaller packages, Mauti said. 

Sixteen percent of White consumers, 12% of Hispanics, 6% of Asians and 6% of Black consumers bought fresh specialty peppers in the past year, along with 22% of people who identified as part of other racial or ethnic groups, according to Fresh Trends.

Due to COVID-19, Mauti said he is seeing more requests for pre-packaged items as consumers seek to shorten their shopping trips or avoid contact with other shoppers.

Mauti believes there are also trends outside the coronavirus situation affecting chili pepper sales — trends toward a more fusion-type — particularly a Hispanic-type — diet.    

With products like avocados increasing in sales, Mauti thinks making Tex-Mex or Mexican-style food a part of consumers’ weekly meal planning is becoming more popular. Retailers can use this trend to market chili peppers.

“I think they can do some cross-merchandising with products that lend itself well, like perhaps avocados or tomatoes, things like that that really go along with a Hispanic-type usage,” Mauti said.

He also recommended store demos to show consumers how chili peppers could be used in recipes. Consumers might already be using powdered peppers, but they might not consider using a fresh chili pepper.

“If you were sampling a fresh salsa, for example, and you showed the customer that it includes, you know, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, lime and chili peppers or jalapeño peppers, they might be more inclined to pick that up,” Mauti said.

Fresh Trends 2020 data agrees with Mauti, showing that about 33% of consumers are more likely to try a new product if there is sampling. 

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