The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 Report

Consumers and Retailers Want Sustainable Produce Packaging

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:52:58 GMT

Sustainable packaging for fresh produce is intensely important for both consumers and retailers, according to data gathered by The Packer.

In The Packer’s Sustainability Insights 2025 survey , nearly 4 out of 5 consumer respondents (79%) reported that sustainable packaging in fresh produce was important, very important or extremely important to them. Similarly, in The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 survey , over half of respondents said the sustainability of fresh produce packaging impacts their purchasing decision in some way: sometimes (30%), usually (16%) or always (8%).

Consumers also claim they are willing to pay for produce in sustainable packaging. Depending on specific packaging traits, 68% to 72% of Sustainability Insights’ consumer respondents said they were willing to pay more for produce in sustainable packaging. In general, more consumer respondents reported a willingness to pay more for produce in bio-based packaging (72%) than for produce in recycled or recyclable packaging (both at 68%).

Willingness to pay more for sustainable packaging differed greatly by age, however, with younger respondents more frequently indicating they would than did older respondents. For example, only 10% of respondents in the youngest age group of 18-24 said they would not pay more for produce packaged in compostable materials. This compares to 47% of respondents aged 65 or older.

Similarly, a higher rate of younger respondents reported they were willing to spend more for fresh produce packaged in sustainable materials. To use the same example, 40% of respondents aged 18-24 indicated they would be willing to spend up to 10% more for produce packaged in compostable materials. Another 40% said they would be willing to spend up to 15% more. This compares to 44% and 5%, respectively, for respondents aged 65 or older.

Retailers on Sustainable Produce Packaging

It’s not just consumers who see big value in sustainable produce packaging. Retailers who participated in the Sustainability Insights survey also ranked sustainable packaging as important to the overall sustainability of the fresh produce supply chain and their business.

Of retail respondents, 93% ranked recyclable packaging as important (24%), very important (33%) or extremely important (36%) to their overall sustainability, making it the top-ranked item. Other forms of sustainable packaging also ranked high for retailers. Biodegradable packaging came in at No. 2 with 92% of respondents ranking it at some level of importance. Compostable packaging came in at No. 4, with 86% of respondents indicating importance.

When asked what they mean by “sustainable packaging,” two-thirds of retailers said both “biodegradable” and “recyclable.” Slightly over half (54%) of retail respondents defined sustainable as “made from post-recycled materials,” and 52% defined it as “compostable.”

Retailer respondents appear to be increasingly convinced of consumers’ willingness to spend more for produce in sustainable packaging. In the 2025 survey, only 18% of retail respondents reported they thought consumers would not pay more for sustainable packaging. This is down from 28% in 2024 and 41% in 2023.

Retailer respondents also overwhelmingly said the cost of sustainable produce packaging should be borne by supply chain members other than the consumer.

In 2025, 77% of retailer respondents answered the question “How should the cost of sustainable packaging be shared across the supply chain?” with “A combination of growers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors and processors.” Only 5% of respondents said that cost should rest solely on the consumer.

Consumer Perceptions on Packaging Sustainability

Consumers agree that they are not the primary party responsible for the overall sustainability of their produce, with only 10% of respondents saying consumers are the most responsible. However, one reason why sustainable packaging might be so important to them is that it is an area where they feel they have some control over the produce sustainability question.

While respondents overwhelmingly reported seeing food companies, governments and growers as primarily responsible for the sustainability of fresh produce, 44% of respondents said they choose produce in eco-friendly packaging when possible. This was the highest response rate for any option to the question, “What are you personally doing, or would you like to do, to pursue a sustainable lifestyle?”

Interestingly, sustainable packaging also impacted how consumers viewed the produce in the package. Almost two-thirds (60%) of consumer respondents to Sustainability Insights said eco-friendly packaging is the No. 1 identifier of sustainable produce. In the 2025 report, sustainable packaging beat out even organic certification (59%), regenerative growing practices (46%) and local (45%) as an indication of sustainable produce.

7 Opportunities to Boost Produce Sales in 2026

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 23:41:56 GMT

From the surprising new power shopper to engaging Gen Z and millennials to redefining value in the produce department, here’s a look at what’s driving fresh produce consumption in the year ahead. Fresh Trends 2026 , The Packer’s annual report on purchasing behavior and consumption habits across 50 fresh fruits and vegetables, offers data and insights designed to increase produce sales and position the industry for success.

1. Men Are the New Produce Power Players

One of the most significant shifts in the 2026 data is the rise of the male shopper. Men reported higher purchase rates for “differentiated” produce — think organics, super-premium strawberries, lion’s mane mushrooms, value-added produce and purple sweet potatoes — than women. And not only are they buying more specialty items, but they are also willing to pay a premium to get what they want.

2. Gen Z and Millennials Remain the Drivers of Different

If it’s new, local or organic, younger shoppers are likely the ones buying it. Gen Z and millennial consumers continue to lead the charge in purchasing specialty items like jumbo blueberries, sweet snacking peppers and specialty mushrooms. For these generations, produce isn’t just a side dish or snack; it’s an experience.

3. The Banana Renaissance is Real

Bananas are officially back in a big way. Fresh Trends 2026 found that alongside potatoes, bananas were the most purchased produce item, with 92% of respondents buying them in the past 12 months. Experts attribute the uptick to their status as a “habit-forming” food — a routine, nutrient-dense snack that fits perfectly alongside protein shakes and supplements for active lifestyles.

4. Organic Produce Growth Driven by Younger Shoppers, Men

While the majority of consumers still predominantly purchase conventionally grown produce, the organic market remains resilient, driven by men and younger shoppers.

Among organic buyers, nearly one-third (30%) of respondents said 26% to 50% of their fruit and vegetable purchases are organic, a trend led by millennials.
About 8% of men surveyed said they were willing to pay a staggering 50% more for organic fruits and vegetables — twice the rate of women. While most organic buyers are comfortable with a 10% to 24% markup, this “super-loyal” segment is one to watch.

5. Big Box Stores Are the Go-To for Organics

Fresh Trends 2026 finds that chain superstores such as Walmart and Target have become the primary destination for organic produce, with 48% of all organic buyers shopping those stores. Among younger shoppers, that percentage is even higher. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Z organic produce shoppers and 55% of millennials indicate they shop chain superstores for organic produce, compared with 48% of Gen X and 30% of baby boomers.

6. Value Is About More Than Just Cheap

While inflation is a concern, the 2026 value proposition for produce isn’t just about the lowest price. Consumers are looking for functional fuel, flavor, versatility and culinary experiences. They want produce that delivers the whole package: health benefits, deliciousness, fiber, protein, convenience and more.

7. Think Meal Solutions Versus Commodities

Circana estimates that 78% to 80% of America’s calories are consumed at home. This is a huge opportunity for produce to market fruits and vegetables as meal solutions. The industry can do more to demonstrate how a bag of potatoes or a clamshell of tomatoes can be used across multiple eating occasions from snacks to salads to main courses, for example.

This meal solutions mindset also fits with the male-dominated trend of produce-, fiber- and protein-rich meal prepping — cooking all the meals for the week(s) ahead in one day.

6 Ways to Maximize These Trends

Target the male power shopper: Curate displays featuring high-end items like purple sweetpotatoes, specialty mushrooms and value-added produce in high-visibility areas; tweak your marketing to include images of men enjoying produce with kids and without; cross-merchandise meat and veggies and dairy with fruit to offer a destination for meal prepping.
Market produce as an experience for Gen Z and millennials: Call attention to new and trending items; highlight origin stories through in-store signage and online; create social media-worthy displays of unique and exotic fruits and veggies to encourage younger shoppers to share their finds.
Reposition routine items as functional fuel: Market everyday items like bananas as functional performance food. Place them in the same category as protein shakes and powders, nutrition bars and supplements to drive volume among fitness-focused shoppers.
Promote organics to key segments: As organic growth is now being fueled by men and younger generations, use loyalty program data to send organic-specific promotions to male shoppers and Gen Z and millennial customers.
Lean into functional health benefits: Use signage and digital marketing to highlight specific functional benefits beyond health. Call out fiber content, protein and gut health benefits that align with dietary trends expected to dominate 2026.
Prioritize emotional equity over a commodity mindset: Build emotional equity around produce brands through storytelling, sustainable packaging and transparent sourcing to create a connection with the shopper that justifies a higher price point even during inflationary times.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Defy Record Grocery Inflation

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 20:04:02 GMT

American families are feeling the squeeze of increased grocery expenses. Based on new calculations from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee – Minority, a typical American family paid $310 more overall for groceries during President Donald Trump’s first year in office compared to 2024.

For the retail produce industry, there’s a surprising silver lining. According to the report , even as overall food prices surged, fresh vegetables and certain fruit categories are bucking the trend, offering consumers a rare reprieve from inflation.

The JEC report highlights that the highest price surges were led by ground coffee, which rose by over $76 annually, followed closely by ground beef with an increase of nearly $71. Other staples hit hard by inflation include eggs, adding more than $51 to yearly budgets, and candy, which saw a jump of over $47.

While the JEC findings reveal that 20 of the most common grocery items rose in price over the last year, fresh produce has remained remarkably stable.

Within the produce aisle, certain staples did see slight price increases in spending, such as oranges (up 8¢ annually), lettuce (up $3.04) and bananas (up $6.09). Most notably, tomatoes (down $10.28), potatoes (down $5.21) and strawberries (down 12¢), experienced an actual price reduction.

This data underscores that while inflation has hit proteins and pantry staples with double-digit increases, the produce aisle continues to offer consumers the most significant opportunities for budgetary relief.

A “Pound-for-Pound” Value

New consumer data from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 highlights a growing awareness of this value. Despite the fact that 82% of shoppers believe they are paying more for fresh fruits and vegetables than they were a year ago, a sentiment particularly strong among Gen X and baby boomers, the reality on the price tag tells a different story.

“Produce has always been and remains the most cost-effective way to fuel your body, any which way you slice it,” says Jonna Parker, Circana’s vice president, Fresh Foods Group. The report notes that the produce industry’s inflation rate has risen less than 20% on the average price per pound, a figure that is “double-digit lower than any other department’s inflation rate.”

Even with the perception of higher costs, Americans aren’t giving up their greens. Fresh Trends found that 63% of respondents have maintained or even slightly increased their fresh produce consumption over the past 12 months. Rather than cutting produce out of the budget, consumers are becoming more strategic in how they shop.

Fresh Trends 2026: Defining the Fresh Produce Value Proposition

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:38:11 GMT

What is fresh produce’s unique value proposition? It’s a question many industry leaders say has remained largely unanswered for the consumer, and the time is ripe to change that. With multiple generations of consumers now shopping for fruits and vegetables, however, the value proposition can differ based on the demographic.

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 survey, conducted with research partner Prime46, asked more than 1,000 consumers across the country about their fresh produce buying habits in 50 commodities. What follows is a look at key shopper differences and trends, with the aim of identifying opportunities for growth and informing the industry’s core value propositions.

Respondents represented all five generations, were 49% men and 51% women, and included households with dependent children and without as well as a range of annual incomes. A strong majority, or 75% of respondents, indicated they handle all or most of their household’s grocery shopping.

Meeting the Male Shopper

While Fresh Trends 2025 shined a light on just how different younger shoppers’ priorities are when purchasing fresh produce and how retailers and suppliers can best engage the critically important Gen Z and millennial generations, Fresh Trends 2026 reveals another consumer segment with opportunity for growth: men.

From organics to super-premium strawberries to purple sweetpotatoes and more, men reported higher purchase rates of differentiated produce items in the past 12 months than women. And, in general, they are willing to pay more than their female counterparts to get what they want.

When asked how their desire for healthy options weighs against their food budget, the majority of all respondents (59%) said they prefer to buy healthy options when the price feels right. But 18% of men indicated they buy healthy foods regardless of price, compared to 12% of women. Additionally, more men said they haven’t noticed an increase in food prices.

How much more are consumers willing to pay for organic fresh fruits and vegetables over what they’d pay for conventionally grown? While 34% of all organic produce buyers indicated they are willing to pay up to 10% more and another 31% said they are comfortable paying 10% to 24% more, a small but notable 8% of men indicated a willingness to pay 50% more for organic fruits and vegetables, twice that of women at 4%.

Men’s motivation for buying organic produce is also different. The majority of men, or 55%, said they bought organic produce for its nutrient content and health, versus 48% of women for whom food safety and avoiding chemicals were the leading drivers.

Given these gender-based differences, is produce missing out with men?

(Photo: pressmaster, Adobe Stock)

“Too often in this industry we think about mom [who] does all the grocery shopping,” says Jonna Parker, Circana’s vice president, Fresh Foods Group. “We’ve got to remember that the average American household does not have children present full-time anymore. And there are a lot of male-led households with and without kids.”

Circana, which recently conducted an internal global study on the power of male-focused marketing and the male decision-maker, finds several socioeconomic trends, including delayed family start and the shifting role of marriage and division of labor throughout someone’s adulthood, that have given rise to today’s male shopper.

While Parker says produce is a little late to the party when it comes to understanding the male decision- maker, there’s an opportunity to take a page from other category’s playbooks like body care or vitamins and supplements.

“Men in 2025 are also more health-inclined than we might often give them credit for,” she says. “Think about something like the protein trend, which 41% of American consumers are trying to eat more protein. A big driver behind that is men looking to build muscle, looking to be healthier and leaner. When we talk about health trends, the male voice is very strong in that market.

“And look at innovation over the last two years in body care,” Parker continues. “Think about how many brands now are fully into every segment of the male life experience in body care and fragrance.”

Parker says more effectively reaching men through produce marketing is easier than one might think, a tweak versus an overhaul, even just including a male spokesperson can be highly effective.

“We’re studying across our industries and produce that the little tweak has a ripple effect,” she says. “For those who say they still want to target that woman, 25 to 44 with two kids at home, we have proven in the last 10 years, that even if you put a male-as-caregiver imagery [in your marketing], it has a halo effect on women. In produce, we could easily just change out to show dad and his kids eating carrot sticks, and it wouldn’t negatively affect women.

“But I also think what we’ve learned, especially on the health and wellness front, is men and women at different stages of their lives need different nutrients and different benefits, and so that’s really the place where I think a little more work could be done,” Parker adds.

She says this can be achieved with different images and slightly different wording in the marketing.

In general, Parker says, men are a little deeper in their researching and linear in their decision- making, while women historically are a little more emotional and occasion-based in their shopping.

“Think about the rise of the meal prep trend,” she says. “Many, especially younger people, who are more health-minded, but primarily more male than female, are doing things like buying all their groceries in bulk and then spending half a day in meal prep. Women do that too, but more men do it.

“There’s an example of something we could take into a retail format that could have a halo effect, a value effect on women, and especially men who are health minded,” she continues.

E-commerce is another channel where younger men might be more actively engaged than women, according to Parker.

“Too often in produce, we think that the world is still the baby boomer way of shopping,” she says. “And the reality is, anything that has continued growth in the last decade or two is much more likely to be male and younger than 20 years ago.”

(Photo: markobe, Adobe Stock)

Boosting Bananas

Fresh Trends 2026 finds that bananas (along with potatoes) are the most purchased produce item, with 92% of respondents indicating they bought the fruit in the past 12 months.

“Bananas have had a bit of a renaissance,” Parker says. “There was a moment where consumption and volume dipped earlier in the decade, and now you see an uptick in people saying bananas are one of their most popular purchased foods.”

Affordable and nutrient dense, bananas fit the healthy lifestyle trend and have become a routine purchase for many, Parker says. But with the right value proposition, there’s opportunity for continued growth.

“Bananas are a great example of where, yes, women buy them and children love them, but looking at our data as well, they do skew male because of that routine, consistency, habit-forming behavior,” she says. “Putting them in the same conversation as nutrition bars, protein shakes and supplements is a great way to grow their consumption.”

“You’re not alienating people who are already banana loyalists,” she adds. “You’re just adding this new situation and consumer need that adds to the volume growth. Bananas are one of my favorite examples of taking something routine and adding some oomph or acceleration to it by thinking about it differently.”

Younger Shoppers Still Driving Different

Once again, Fresh Trends 2026 finds that Gen Z and millennials lead purchases of the new, different, organic and local.

From sweet snacking peppers and specialty mushrooms to jumbo blueberries and super- premium strawberries, Gen Z and millennials indicate they’re putting more purchase power behind specialty items than other generations.

The survey data shows 17% of Gen Z and 16% of millennials said they bought sweet snacking peppers in the past 12 months, compared with just 9% of Gen X and 4% of baby boomers. Similarly, 15% of Gen Z, 11% of millennials and 10% of Gen X purchased specialty mushrooms (enoki, morel, oyster, lion’s mane, etc.), compared with just 4% of baby boomers.

On the specialty-fruit front, 25% of Gen Z and 22% of millennials said they purchased Oishii-brand Koyo or Omakase strawberries in the past 12 months, versus 13% of Gen X and 4% of baby boomers. And a majority of Gen Z, or 55%, indicated a purchase of extra-large blueberries in that time frame, compared with 47% of millennials and Gen X, 37% of baby boomers and 29% of traditionalists.

Gen Z and millennials also reported the highest numbers of buying Cotton Candy grapes, the most purchased branded grape among respondents, at 41% and 39%, respectively, compared to 32% of Gen X, 19% of baby boomers and just 5% of traditionalists.

Just over a third of all respondents (36%) say buying locally grown produce is extremely or very important to them, with the strongest interest among Gen Z, millennials and Gen X as well as households with kids.

While millennials led overall organic purchase in some categories, such as avocados, more than twice the number of Gen Z respondents (30%) indicated organic purchases than Gen X (14%). Just 5% of baby boomers and 4% of traditionalists indicated organic avocado purchase.

Much of this growth is driven by innovation and reinvention, Parker says.

“Avocados have been a huge success story, and I don’t see that slowing down,” says Parker, noting that the avocado industry had been struggling because crop conditions were producing smaller fruit until it started marketing bags of individual-size avocados.

“The consumer was like, ‘I love smaller avocados, and I don’t have as much waste.’ Now you see multiple sizes of avocados 52 weeks a year on the shelf.”

“Berries also have had 25 years of incredible volume growth, and I love to see that blackberries and jumbo blueberries are also tracking,” she continues. “It’s about reinvention of the same commodity.”

Younger Shoppers Drive Organics Where They Buy

While the majority of consumers still predominantly purchase conventionally grown produce, among organic buyers, nearly one-third (30%) of respondents said 26% to 50% of their fruit and vegetable purchases are organic, a trend led by millennials.

Interestingly, where organic produce buyers shop differs by generation. Chain superstores such as Walmart and Target are the top sources indicated overall by respondents who purchase organic produce, with 48% of organic buyers shopping those stores. But among younger shoppers, that percentage is even higher.

Fifty-nine percent of Gen Z organic produce shoppers and 55% of millennials indicate they shop chain superstores for organic produce, compared with 48% of Gen X and 30% of baby boomers. No traditionalists surveyed indicated purchasing organics at a superstore.

“There’s a reason that big chains went big on organics, and it’s because of that nexus of next-gen consumer demanding that attribute,” Parker says. “Organic has also been a signal for many, many decades, and still to this day, to the average American consumer that you do care about produce when you carry more organic.”

(Photo: luismolinero, Adobe Stock)

Pound-for-Pound Value

Fresh Trends 2026 finds that while an overwhelming 82% of respondents think they’re paying more for fresh fruits and vegetables than they were a year ago — a sentiment that is especially strong among households with annual income over $50,000, families with kids, Gen X and baby boomers — nearly two-thirds, or 63%, of respondents say their fresh produce consumption has stayed the same in the past 12 months or even slightly increased, despite rising prices.

“Produce has always been and remains the most cost-effective way to fuel your body, any which way you slice it,” Parker says. “The produce industry’s inflation rate has gone up less than 20% on the average price per pound paid — double-digit lower than any other department’s inflation rate.”

Fresh Trends reveals consumers are employing numerous tactics to manage their produce budget, from purchasing items on sale to buying in bulk and freezing to cutting back on specialty and value- added items.

On the flip side, one in five consumer respondents (20%) report buying more pre-cut produce, a trend led by Gen Z, millennials and families with children. The top reason (41%) that respondents say they’re buying more pre-cut produce is convenience and time savings.

In the wake of rising food costs, nearly half of respondents (49%) say they are eating at home more often, a shift especially common among women, finds Fresh Trends 2026.

“We see the majority of consumers’ meals, something like 78% to 80% of the calories the average American consumes, are sourced from home,” Parker says. “That remains the opportunity for produce. We sell commodities in large batches. We don’t sell meal solutions.”

The produce industry needs to market to people wanting to eat healthier, more protein and nutrients, who are also consuming most of their food at home, she explains.

“How do we lean into that and show them how many meals you can get out of two pounds of potatoes?” Parker says. “How do we show them the versatility of a clamshell of cocktail-size tomatoes that can go on salads, be a snack or an ingredient in your pasta that night?

“I haven’t seen us lean into our story on price per ounce, price per eating occasion or price per use, which is very common now in how we market other foods,” she adds. “If we brought that kind of concept to produce, the dollars would follow.”

Produce also needs to get more strategic about whom they’re talking with and how they’re talking about these value propositions, Parker says.

“We see brands now investing in influencers and digital media,” she says. “We see retailers with recipes and searchable AI on their apps, and we’re talking about agentic commerce now. If I want my kids to eat more vegetables, I’m going to get served with all these ideas; how are we playing into that?”

Listed are the most purchased produce in the past 12 months, as reported by consumers surveyed for Fresh Trends 2026.

(The Packer)

Fueling America: A Value Proposition

When it comes to communicating the value of produce, it’s about way more than price, Parker says.

“We have to talk about our value in terms of fueling America, our value in terms of snacking, our value in terms of meal making; all three of those things are what consumers consider relevant today as they eat smaller and more frequent meals,” she says.

While consumers are trained for deal hunting and looking for sales in the highly perishable and weather-dependent produce arena, you can’t put everything on sale all the time.

Instead of thinking sales, the produce industry needs to be thinking occasions, situations and consumer cohorts for whom fresh produce resonates most, Parker says. “If we do that, sale or not, we’ll drive volume.”

“I’m ending this year looking at the numbers,” she continues. “We did good. High-five produce. We got pound growth,
and our pound growth is outpacing that of the total food and beverage. But when you look at your survey and how much momentum and interest there is in our industry from the younger generations, our growth rates should be so much higher, because we’ve got a generation of people where produce is incredibly relevant, whether it’s organic or not.”

In honing the fresh produce value proposition, Parker sees opportunity for the brands, varieties and package types that uniquely appeal to each segment of produce shopper.

“We have to get away from our own bias that produce doesn’t need to be marketed,” she says. “Because I think you can take a mushroom or a tomato and end up continuing to see growth from your loyal [Gen] Xers and [baby] boomers while you’re simultaneously growing volume with the next generation that has to be reached through a different kind of marketing than what we’re doing today.”

Download the full report here .

Banana Marketing Future Lies in New Varieties and Organics

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:38:11 GMT

Bananas are something of an enigma of produce purchasing in the U.S.

On the one hand, they are one of Americans’ favorite fruits. According to the International Fresh Produce Association , bananas were the most consumed fruit in the U.S. in 2023. In The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 report , 81% of respondents reported buying bananas in the previous year, eclipsing even apples (80%).

There’s also a lot of them to go around. According to USDA Economic Resource Service’s noncitrus fruit yearbook , there were 26.7 pounds of bananas available per person in 2023 (most recent complete data). This compares to the 17.9 pounds of apples available per person. Plus, bananas are not only the most purchased fruit by both frequency and volume, but they are the most commonly purchased item in the entire grocery store, representing about 1% of all sales.

Speaking of sales, bananas are also spectacularly cheap. According to USDA ERS data , the average price of apples in 2022 (most recent complete comparative data) was $1.85 per pound. For bananas, it was 60 cents. And, unlike local produce that sees seasonal price fluctuations, banana prices stay remarkably stable. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the average price of bananas in August 2025 was 67 cents per pound and has remained relatively flat for decades.

Notice the comparative flatness of the average retail price of bananas (green) over the years compared to oranges (orange) and tomatoes (red), which fluctuate seasonally and from year to year.

(Chart courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics)

On the other hand, the banana is such a must-have staple to so many people, that picking up a bunch is almost automatic. And therein lies a problem.

“One of the biggest marketing challenges for bananas is that many shoppers perceive them as a routine, or even a boring purchase,” says Ahiby Rodriguez, trade marketing manager for Fyffes North America. “Since bananas have become such a staple in shoppers’ shopping lists, the category has lost excitement or the emotional connection with shoppers.”

But there is excitement to be had with the banana, just not necessarily always the good kind. Weather and climate challenges, international trade issues, spreading diseases and the shifting trends in consumer interest are all poised to shake things up when it comes to banana marketing.

Global Supplies Mean Global Challenges

While bananas, particularly the familiar cavendish variety, are the most popular fruit in the U.S., they are also the most popular fruit in the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations notes that “bananas are among the most produced, traded and consumed fruits globally,” with the cavendish representing just under half of global production and the most traded.

FAO’s most recent Banana Market Review described the U.S. as one of the top destinations of the world’s bananas, consuming almost 22% of global banana imports. This makes it second behind the European Union (28%) and ahead of China (9%) and Russia (6.1%). According to ERS, the U.S. has imported all of its bananas since 2012, with 85% of that total coming from Guatemala (41%), Ecuador (19%), Costa Rica (16%) and Honduras (9%).

Together, these details mean U.S. banana availability — and potentially price — can be impacted by global issues.

“Global climate change and extreme weather, particularly in Honduras, are reducing production, forcing significant new investment in water management,” notes William Goldfield, director of communications at Dole.

FAO similarly reported weather-related issues in Guatemala in 2024, citing Hurricane Beryl in July as having destroyed planted banana acres and damaging the quality of those supplies that remained. The result was a 3.5% decline in Guatemalan banana shipments in 2024.

According to ERS, weather, specifically La Niña-related cool weather in Central America, has reduced banana imports into the U.S. in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same time in 2024.

But global trade conditions are also playing a role in current conditions. According to Goldfield: “geopolitical factors, import duties and tariffs, and increased demand from Asia and Eastern Europe are impacting market availability and needs for spot purchasing in Ecuador. All of these factors have disrupted available supply this year and we expect this trend to continue in 2026.”

The TR4 Threat

One banana challenge that is guaranteed to continue into the future is the spread of disease, particularly the latest strain of the fusarium wilt fungus, best known as Tropical Race 4, which threatens global cavendish production .

According to FAO, TR4 has been confirmed in 24 countries across South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania and Latin America, including Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. The fungus causes production losses where it exists. It can also cause substantial costs where it doesn’t exist, as resource- and labor-intensive preventive efforts are growers’ primary strategy since “no effective fungicide or other eradication method is currently available.”

“Dole and other producers continue to search solutions to the challenge caused by TR4,” Goldfield says. “The industry has been doing a good job containing the propagation of TR4 so far, but unfortunately, TR4 has just recently been reported in Ecuador, the largest banana exporter in the world, increasing the urgency to discover solutions.”

He adds that, while banana prices in the U.S. will ultimately be driven by supply and demand, “because TR4 has the potential to eliminate infected plantations and leave them out of production for 20-plus years, operations costs will reflect the immediate and necessary investment in infrastructure and research to successfully contain the TR4 spread.”

Rodriguez says the industry has made important progress towards that effort through disease prevention and “protective farming practices,” but still calls the disease “one of the most serious challenges for global banana production.”

FAO similarly characterized the disease. It added, however: “Some breakthroughs in the engineering of resistant varieties have been achieved recently, but it remains to be seen if traders, retailers and consumers will accept these new varieties.”

Opportunities in New Varieties

Luckily for banana marketers, consumers seem receptive to new varieties and other value-added characteristics like organic or fair trade.

Both Rodriguez and Goldfield report that consumers have a growing interest in more exotic banana varieties. These include red bananas, baby bananas (also known as “lady fingers”), burro bananas, manzanos and plantains. This being driven not only by the companies’ need to diversify in the face of threats like TR4 but also by shifting consumer food interests.

“This trend is being driven by the influence of multicultural cuisines and by consumers seeking new flavors and snacking experiences within the category,” Rodriguez says.

Goldfield agrees, saying consumer demand for “spicier, more exotic and flavorful foods, dishes and recipes” is driving gains in the exotic banana category.

“Plantains lead the exotics category in sales growth and increased 8% in 2025 alone in spite of supply disruptions — the result of more aggressive promotion at Dole and other producers as well as Latin-inspired flavors continuing to move into the mainstream of North American eating habits,” he says.

Goldfield sees “increased widespread promotion of new varieties and organic” as the biggest banana marketing trend for the future. It’s one dictated as much by consumer interest as industry necessity in the face of TR4, he adds.

“You can see this in last year’s ‘Swicy’ food trend, which featured a resurgence of foods and drinks combining sweet and spicy flavors,” he says. “At Dole, we leveraged this ‘swicy’ trend with recipes like our Sweet and Spicy Plantain Soup and Sweet and Spicy Tamarindo Dole Whip, both made with Dole plantains.”

Goldfield says that while Dole used to position its more exotic varieties to “younger, more adventurous consumers,” the trend is catching on with more mainstream American banana lovers as well.

Organic, Fair Trade and Beyond

Another banana trend that is led by younger consumers but is catching on with all banana consumers is increasing interest in organic bananas.

According to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 report, the youngest shoppers (aged 18 to 29) reported they were as likely to buy organic bananas as they were to buy conventional. For those aged 30 to 39, the trend was very similar. Reports of organic banana buying declined as the age of the respondent increased, but they have stayed steady or increased year over year in all categories recently.

ERS data supports this overall growth in organic bananas. In 2024, roughly 13% of bananas coming into the U.S. were certified organic compared to about 7% a decade earlier.

“Today, organics represent approximately 16% of retail banana volume sales and its demand continues to rise double digits every year,” says Rodriguez, citing Circana data through early September 2025. She adds consumers, particularly Gen Z and younger millennials, are value-driven and “care about where their food comes from and how it’s produced.”

Kim Chackal, vice president of sales and marketing and co-owner of Equifruit, agrees with this perspective, noting that consumers are increasingly voting with their dollars by buying organic.

“Even if the price differential between conventional and organics is marginal, [consumers are] still choosing that product more and more and more,” she says. That leads the company to ask if consumers are just interest in organic or if they are also concerned with better farming practices, Chackal says. Equifruit has assumed “yes,” importing only Fairtrade Certified bananas into Canada and a few outlets in New York.

Both the company and fair trade bananas have seen impressive growth in Canada. According to Fairtrade Canada , Fairtrade Certified bananas have seen 524% growth between 2019 and 2024. Equifruit has similarly seen impressive growth lately. It was again named one of Canada’s top growing companies by The Globe and Mail with a growth rate of 195% in 2025.

Fair trade bananas have not had quite the same success in the U.S. but are still a growing category, according to both Goldfield and Rodriguez. Both Dole and Fyffes offer fair trade bananas.

“Fairtrade is still developing in the U.S. and compared to Europe, we still have a long way to go,” says Rodriguez, adding that it is an opportunity to further educate consumers on sustainability. That conversation is the way of the marketing future too, she says.

“In the future, banana marketing will be about connection and transparency,” Rodriguez adds. “TR4 keeps reminding us how important it is to tell the story behind every banana on the table, the care, dedication and sustainability efforts that go into growing it.”

This can help recapture some of that lost excitement or emotional connection, she adds, especially if paired with effective and eye-catching merchandising such as secondary displays placed in high-traffic areas or near complementary categories.

“Being the No. 1 favorite fruit also challenges us to communicate our sustainability efforts in a more engaging way,” Rodriguez says.

“By sharing our sustainability journey and the steps we’re taking to secure the future of bananas, we can strengthen trust and the emotional connection with shoppers while continuing to deliver the fruit they love,” she adds.

Fresh Pineapples Preferred Over Canned, Juiced

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 19:25:49 GMT

Americans like their pineapples. And, increasingly, they like them fresh.

According to the most recent pineapple information from USDA’s Economic Research Service, the majority of pineapple consumed in the U.S. has shifted over the past 35 years.

In 1990, there were roughly 2 pounds of fresh pineapple available per consumer (availability being a proxy for consumption). This represented less than 15% of the total per capita pineapple availability, with canned and juice being the primary way consumers could enjoy pineapple. By 2024, however, this dynamic had reversed.

“By 2024, fresh pineapple per capita availability reached a record high of 8.5 pounds per person, accounting for two-thirds of the 12.9 pounds of pineapple available per person on a fresh-weight basis,” writes Helen Wakefield, ERS agricultural economist. “The steadily increasing fresh share reflects both rising consumer demand for fresh produce including fresh pineapples and declining demand for processed pineapple products and other processed fruit products.”

This dynamic is reflected in The Packer’s Fresh Trends surveys. Since the 2023 report, 38% of survey respondents have reported buying fresh pineapple. Confidence surrounding pineapple ripeness has also stayed fairly steady in that time with roughly 40% of respondents reporting they know how to pick ripe, ready-to-eat pineapples throughout those years.

However, in the 2023 report 6% of respondents reported they had recently started buying fresh pineapple. In 2024 that number grew to 10% of respondents reporting being new pineapple buyers, suggesting growing interest.

Almost all of the pineapple consumed in the U.S. is imported, with the majority of imports — roughly 90% of total imports of 2.92 billion pounds in 2024 — coming from Costa Rica. The July 2025 edition of the Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook noted that imports were down 3% in January through May, peak pineapple import volumes are historically in May, in 2025 due to bad weather.

Grape Expectations: Meeting Consumer Demand with Innovation

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 23:34:00 GMT

According to The Packer’s 2025 Fresh Trends report , over half of all respondents reported buying grapes, making it one of the more commonly selected fruits in the produce section.

But consumers have expectations about their grapes. Fresh Trends survey participants who reported buying grapes said they overwhelmingly (90%) buy grapes as a snack, they prefer seedless grapes over seeded and green grapes slightly more than red. They even had decided opinions about brands, with over a third (37%) of grape-buying respondents saying they bought Cotton Candy and a quarter reporting Autumncrisp purchases.

Those in the industry say consumer demands on which grapes end up on their snacking table are getting pickier.

“Today’s shopper doesn’t just want grapes — they want a premium snacking experience,” says Jen Sanchez, vice president of marketing at Sun World International. While that experience includes sweetness and non-negotiable crispy crunch, it goes beyond that too, she adds.

“Increasingly, consumers are seeking out larger, vibrant green grapes with strong visual appeal,” she continues. “The preference is clear: large, Instagram-worthy berries with a real crunch and reliability over novelty. Every bag needs to deliver.”

The valuation (and challenge) of varieties

The ability of consumers to be selective when it comes to their grapes is two pronged. On the one hand, the industry is oversupplied , according to Michael DuPuis, Divine Flavor’s quality assurance and public relations manager. This can pressure prices and drive retailers to accept subpar fruit, which just risks damaging consumer trust. On the other hand, consumers increasingly have been given ever more unique options in the form of proprietary varieties.

“These varieties hit the sweet spot across audiences,” Sanchez says. “Luxury shoppers see them as indulgent and charcuterie-ready; parents value the health halo and convenience; kids respond to the crunch and flavor; and on social media, standout grapes have become shareable ‘status snacks.’”

“One of the most exciting innovations in the table grape industry is the development of next-generation proprietary varieties that prioritize flavor, shelf life, sustainability and health benefits — all in one,” DuPuis says. “Breeders are pushing the boundaries with grapes that not only taste better but also grow more efficiently, use fewer inputs and offer higher nutritional value.”

Other challenges

As with all produce, the grower-side concerns of the impacts of climate change, labor cost and shortage, and water availability are challenges facing the table grape industry.

For Sun World, Sanchez says that reality means “breeding grapes that are more climate-resilient, require fewer inputs and still deliver breakthrough flavor and texture. We’re leveraging marker-assisted, AI-guided breeding to fast-track improvements in crunch, size and flavor, while also investing in predictive agronomy tools that help guide canopy and irrigation decisions tied to heat and rain risk.”

The trouble is new varieties can take a long time, up to 10 years, to bring a new variety from seedling to shelf, Sanchez adds.

Ian LeMay, president of California Table Grape Commission, reports the commission is funding research programs to more efficiently care for, grow and harvest grapes in the state.

“For example, technologies and practices such as precision irrigation, weed mats and plastic coverings help ensure every drop of water is used as efficiently as possible in the vineyard,” LeMay says. “At the same time, developments in power wheelbarrows and automatic clippers can reduce the physical labor required of harvesting grapes.”

DuPuis similarly reports progress in other parts of the table grape supply chain, particularly in areas important to the international work of Divine Flavor.

“We’re also seeing advancements in postharvest technology and cold chain management that help preserve quality and extend freshness during transport — crucial for global programs like ours,” DuPuis says.

He adds that these innovations are helping the industry meet consumer expectations for quality and variety, while also “navigating ongoing challenges like unpredictable weather, sustainability concerns, resource constraints, labor shortages and the need to preserve soil health.”

“These issues can’t be solved overnight, but innovation in farming practices, supply chain efficiency and strategic variety planning will help,” he adds.

Your next reads:

Wellness Tops the Shopping List for Younger Generations, Even During Economic Crisis

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 21:16:43 GMT

Millennials and Gen Z refuse to sacrifice healthy eating. According to Kearney’s Food System Outlook 2025, 90% of younger consumers prioritize spending on nutritious food, underscoring a generational shift that places wellness above traditional markers of status like cars or housing.

Global management consulting firm Kearney released a new report, Food System Outlook 2025: Competing in a rewired food system , revealing that the global food system is breaking away from traditional operating models. The comprehensive analysis shows how three disruptive forces (evolving consumer demands, supply chain consolidation and rapid technology adoption) are reshaping operations across five connected ecosystems: broadacre, specialty crops, protein, ingredients and manufacturing and distribution, according to a news release.

“The global food system is facing fundamental structural and systemic change, and the old food system playbook doesn’t work anymore. Input costs have never been higher, consumer expectations are more complex and technology is moving from optional to essential across every part of the food chain,” says Rob Dongoski, Kearney’s global lead of the food and agriculture sector and co-author of the report. “Companies that understand how the five ecosystems connect and move fastest to automate, build regional agility and align with consumer needs will define what comes next.”

The research identifies three enablers for success: automation and data integration, regional agility in production and sourcing, and consumer-aligned innovation. Companies are discovering that protecting margins requires rethinking entire operating models rather than making incremental improvements.

“We’re seeing a clear divide between companies that treat these changes as separate challenges versus those that are building integrated responses,” Dongoski says. “The winners are investing in automation partnerships, exploring CRISPR productivity gains and building climate-smart operations while simultaneously delivering on cost, transparency and sustainability.”

Rob Dongoski, Kearney’s global lead of the food and agriculture sector and co-author of the Food System Outcome 2025 report.

(Photo courtesy of Kearney)

The outlook examines specific ecosystem dynamics. In specialty crops, 70% of growers report investing in automation technologies, while controlled environment agriculture shows strawberry yields 2.3 times higher than traditional field cultivation. The protein sector is adopting feed additives that reduce methane emissions up to 45% for beef cattle while addressing consumer demand that remains strong despite early plant-based alternative projections.

A few highlights from the report:

Thirty-two percent of U.S. farmers use the internet to purchase agricultural products, and spend $500,000 a year on automation in response to the labor shortage.
AI solutions can reduce food waste and restaurant operating costs; CRISPR gene editing technology is projected to reduce costs by 15% to 20%.
New herbicide technologies can produce 76% savings in costs; pheromone-based pest control use has increased 56+% globally.
Ninety percent of millennial and Gen Z consumers prioritize spending on healthy food even in times of economic crisis.

When it comes to millennial and Gen Z consumers, Dongoski explains that these priorities are shaping the food industry in profound ways.

“Consumer preferences, state-level bans, new weight-loss drugs and SNAP benefits are all converging to create a consumer profile that trends much more towards fresh foods — fresh meat, fresh produce, fresh veggies — and away from highly processed, sugary, salty foods and beverages,” he says. “I think it’s a good time to be in the specialty crop space.”

According to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 , millennials and Gen Z are leading the way in fresh produce consumption, with health being a key factor, as 81% of millennials and 79% of Gen Z cited “health reasons to get more produce in my diet.”

Among other reasons consumers say they are eating more produce, millennials rank highest in responding with “value/better bang for my buck,” (34%) and “because my doctor suggested I do so” (31%).

Specialty crops — fruits, vegetables and nuts — are well-positioned to meet this rising demand. Dongoski says that globally even markets that haven’t traditionally embraced items like berries are developing an appetite for them, creating new opportunities for growers and exporters.

As far as how millennials and Gen Z define “healthy,” Rob emphasizes personalization.

“They’ll define it differently depending on the category,” he explains. “For some, healthy means fresh. For others, it means fewer ingredients or less processing. A cleaner potato chip, for instance, might appeal more to a millennial or Gen Z consumer than to a boomer.”

This commitment comes with financial trade-offs. Younger consumers are willing to cut back on housing and transportation expenses to make room for healthful food in their budgets. Dongoski pointed out that fewer young adults are getting driver’s licenses at 16, reflecting less emphasis on car ownership and more reliance on urban transit or ridesharing.

“But food is not one that Gen Zs and millennials will want to cut right out of the gate,” he says.

For retailers and producers, the message is clear: Healthy, fresh and clean-label products aren’t just a trend; they’re a non-negotiable priority for the next generation of shoppers.

What’s Driving the Boom in Berries

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 03:10:21 GMT

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The Aneberries international conference and expo held July 23-24, welcomed a record 3,000 attendees to its 15^th annual event focused on the global berry market. Aneberries kicked off with a look at berry consumer shopping trends from The Packer’s 2025 Fresh Trends report.

Based on a survey of more than 1,100 consumers across the U.S., Fresh Trends 2025 surveyed shoppers about their fresh fruit and vegetable purchasing habits in 50 commodities — including berries — over the prior 12 months. Fielded in February, Fresh Trends 2025 also surveyed five generations (Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, baby boomers and traditionalists) about what and why they buy in the produce department.

The Packer’s Editorial Director Jennifer Strailey presented Fresh Trends 2025 at the Aneberries conference and expo.

(Photo courtesy of Aneberries)

Berries by the Numbers

The total berry category continues to dominate. Dollar sales for the berry category were over $12.5 billion, according to Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh retail data for the 52-week period ending June 15, 2025, up 7.5% over a year ago. That’s dollar sales more than twice what the next leading produce category — grapes — posted for that same time period.

When it comes to berry types most purchased, Fresh Trends 2025 finds that strawberries and blueberries lead the category with 54% of consumers reporting purchasing the berries in the last 12 months. Blackberries came in next at 34%, and raspberries were the least-purchased berry in the category at 30%.

(Prostock-studio, Adobe Stock)

Blackberries Resonate With Older Shoppers

Fresh Trends 2025 found that higher-earning consumers with an annual household income greater than $100,000 were the most frequent purchaser of blackberries at 46%.

Older consumers were also among the most frequent purchasers of conventional blackberries with 71% of those aged 50 to 59 and 73% of those aged 60 or older reporting they purchased them in the last 12 months.

A look at conventional compared to organic blackberry sales shows a decided consumer preference for conventional. Of those who purchased blackberries in the last 12 months, 52% said they prefer conventional blackberries compared with 20% of those who only purchased organic. Twenty-five percent of consumers reported buying both conventional and organic blackberries.

But a key takeaway from Fresh Trends 2025 was that younger consumers are buying more organic produce, and despite being most sensitive to food inflation, they are also more willing to pay more for organic. This is evident in the berry category as well with 36% of Gen Z and 24% of millennials reporting purchasing organic blackberries compared with just 15% of Gen X and 5% of baby boomers.

Blueberries are tied with strawberries for the most-purchased berry.

(Cozine, Adobe Stock)

Something Blue, Something New

Fresh Trends 2025 found that 54% of consumers purchased blueberries in the last 12 months — the same percentage as last year’s survey but higher than the 37% reporting so in Fresh Trends 2023.

As with blackberries, higher-income consumers were most likely to report a blueberry purchase, with 64% of shoppers earning more than $100,000 in annual household income indicating purchases. Older consumers were also more likely to purchase blueberries, with 60% of those aged 50 to 59 and 59% of those aged 60 or older putting blueberries in their shopping baskets.

Among blueberry consumers, the majority, or 52%, prefer to buy conventionally grown blueberries, compared to just 20% who purchased organic exclusively and 24% who said they purchased both conventional and organic.

Once again, younger consumers showed more love for organic, with 32% of Gen Z and 24% of millennials reporting organic blueberry purchases in the past 12 months. This is compared to just 9% of baby boomers, 13% of traditionalists and 16% of Gen Xers.

And the blueberry category is benefiting from differentiation, as brands have introduced extra-large blueberries in recent years. Nearly half of consumers, or 45%, reported having purchased jumbo blueberries in the past 12 months.

A look at purchase of jumbo blueberries by generation, reveals that younger consumers were more apt to purchase the fruit. At 54%, millennials were far and away the leading purchasers of extra-large blueberries.

Reported purchase of jumbo blueberries in past 12 months by generation:

43% of Gen Z
54% of millennials
44% of Gen Xers
34% of baby boomers
38% of traditionalists

The jumbo blueberry purchasing habits of men versus women reveals another interesting trend. Throughout the Fresh Trends 2025 survey, men and women were closely aligned in their buying behavior, with relatively few exceptions. But when it comes to blueberries, 50% of men reported having purchased extra-large blueberries in the last 12 months compared with 40% of women.

The Packer has spoken with suppliers of extra-large blueberries who’ve said they see their product resonating with men, who perhaps view jumbo blueberries as a more substantial or satisfying snack. Cracking into the snacking trend with bigger blueberries could be a game changer for the subcategory.

At 38%, Gen Z shoppers lead in the purchase of organic raspberries.

(Africa Studio, Adobe Stock)

Raspberries Cross Generations

Thirty percent of consumers surveyed in Fresh Trends 2025 reported purchasing raspberries in the last 12 months. Generationally speaking, the consumers who most frequently reported purchasing raspberries in the past 12 months were baby boomers at 38%, Gen X at 32% and Gen Z at 30%.

When it comes to conventional versus organic raspberries, consumers purchased far more conventional raspberries than organic, with the majority, or 59%, of consumers saying they purchased conventional raspberries, compared with just 15% who said they only purchased organic raspberries.

On the organic front, the trend of the youngest berry shoppers gravitating to organics is apparent again with 38% of Gen Z indicating they had purchased organic raspberries in the last 12 months.

Twenty-three percent of all consumers surveyed said they bought organic strawberries in the last 12 months.

(knelson20, Adobe Stock)

Strawberries Top the Most-Purchased List

Strawberries not only made Fresh Trends 2025’s list of the top 10 most purchased fruits and vegetables — coming in at No. 8 with 54% of consumers saying they purchased strawberries in the last 12 months — but strawberries are also the No. 1 item in the berry category that consumers most frequently reported purchasing as organic. Twenty-three percent of all consumers surveyed said they bought organic strawberries in the last 12 months.

The big red berry also continues to gain new customers. Nine percent of consumers surveyed in Fresh Trends 2025 said they were new purchasers of strawberries, buying them for the first time in the past several years.

What drives consumers to buy?

When consumers were asked what factors make them likely to purchase fruits and vegetables they haven’t purchased before or more of a certain kind of produce, “on sale” was the most popular response at 41%, followed by word of mouth at 38%, sampling at 33% and social media at 27%.

And strawberries were another case where men and women indicated different purchasing habits, with 59% of women saying they had purchased strawberries in the past 12 months, compared with 49% of men.

U.S. Relies Heavily on Berry Imports From Mexico

The Packer’s presentation at Aneberries also took a look at the U.S.-Mexico berry trade, with input from international banking and financial services company Rabobank.

More than 90% of the raspberry supply in the U.S. is imported, with the vast majority coming from Mexico, says Rabobank.

With blueberries, over 60% of the supply is imported, with more heavy imports from Mexico during March, April and May when it’s the offseason for California.

Rabobank says almost all U.S. strawberry imports come from Mexico and about 25% of the fresh strawberries consumed in the U.S. are imported.

Mexico supplies a little over 62% of blackberries for the U.S. market. The vast majority of the U.S. blackberry supply is imported from Mexico from February through April.

Opportunities for Growth

The fresh produce industry now has five generations of produce shoppers, and one of the most compelling insights that came out of the Fresh Trends 2025 report with regard to berries specifically is that few other fresh produce categories have the penetration across all five generations that berries do.

From the youngest to the oldest and in between, consumers are engaging with berries. That’s great news for berry suppliers, retailers, foodservice and more, but the berry category also has the challenge of continuing to appeal to and delight that critically important younger shopper who craves something new and different, whether that’s organic berries, extra-large berries or innovations in value-added and snack offerings.

And younger shoppers, who despite being most sensitive to higher food prices, are also more willing to spend more for these items. They see items like organic berries as an affordable luxury, and they’re willing to pay the price to get what they want.

Download a free copy of the Fresh Trends 2025 report here .

Your next read: Fresh Trends 2025 — Driving Demand in an Age of Uncertainty

Organic Produce Sales Show ‘Remarkable’ Growth

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:48:19 GMT

The organic produce category experienced strong performance during the past year, increasing in both dollar and volume sales compared to the previous year.

Dollar sales reached nearly $11.7 billion, up 8.5% from the year prior, while volume sales for organic produce grew 5.6% to 4.1 billion pounds, according to Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh data for the 52 weeks ending April 20, 2025, including total U.S. Multi-Outlet+ with C-store (grocery, drug, mass market, military, convenience and select club, dollar, beauty and online retailers).

In comparison, dollar sales for conventionally grown produce grew 3.4% and sales by volume gained 3.6%.

“Growth is always good, but growth of a premium-priced option is always remarkable,” said Jonna Parker, head of the Fresh Foods Client Insights Group for Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. This is especially true, she added, at a time when consumers are watching their budgets.

Parker highlighted multiple drivers for organic’s successful year, including a trend toward healthy eating and snacking, adoption by younger consumers and shoppers’ view of organic produce as an affordable luxury.

“On average, people spend the least in the produce department when they buy an item compared to any other part of the store,” she said.

With shoppers making multiple trips to buy groceries each week and picking up just what they need, “fresh produce and premiumizing their fresh produce choices becomes so much more relevant,” Parker added.

Brian Penfield, produce director for Sendik’s Food Market in Milwaukee, confirmed that demand for organic produce is growing.

“For us, it’s anywhere from a 3% to 5% increase each week versus last year,” he said. “Consumers are looking for the product, and we find ourselves offering more selection and variety each year.”

Aldi stores experienced double-digit increases in organic produce sales in 2024, up more than 20% year-over-year. Fruit had a 30% increase, while vegetables sales grew 10%.

“It’s one of the fastest-growing categories in our business, outpacing total produce growth,” said Bill Duesenberg, director of national produce buying for Aldi. “Shoppers are looking for a fresh, value-packed produce aisle, and that’s why we’re continuing to expand our assortment around what shoppers are craving most.”

The Wellness Factor

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 consumer survey found that while health was a primary motivator for all respondents, 87% of those using GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic cited health as a reason to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Parker identified the movement toward healthy eating as one of the “mega-trends” driving organic produce sales over the past year.

“When we look at the key motivations of the organic consumer, No. 1 is healthy nutrition,” she said. “It’s very much about fueling your wellness goals.”

Younger Generations Lead the Way

Among consumers surveyed for Fresh Trends, younger generations — Gen Z and millennials — reported the most sensitivity to food inflation. Despite their budgetary concerns, Gen Z and millennial shoppers more frequently reported buying organic produce than older generations; 1 in 3 millennials said that the majority of their produce purchases in the past year were organic.

Younger generations also reported more willingness to pay a higher price for organic produce. The survey showed 17% of Gen Z and 14% of millennials indicated they would be willing to pay 25% to 49% more for organic offerings, compared with just 3% of Gen X and 7% of baby boomers. In contrast, roughly 1 in 5 Gen Xers and baby boomers said they are not willing to pay extra for organic.

If price were not an issue, 59% of millennials said they would buy more organic produce, followed by Gen Z at 57%.

Parker said that, for Gen Z and millennials, the decision of whether or not to buy organic produce isn’t primarily based on cost. For them, it’s more of an affordable luxury.

“Though there is a large segment of organic buyers that is more affluent, organic does very well with younger consumers,” she said. “Just like younger people may buy designer handbags or upgrade the type of hair care they are using if it is recommended by a beauty influencer, having a more premium organic option for produce is interesting and relevant. It is not all about price with the younger — or really, any — consumer.”

These discerning and empowered shoppers grew up with infinite choices, she added, and organic produce has always been widely available during their lifetimes. They are also more likely than older generations to research the food they purchase and eat, Parker said, including how it’s grown and the benefits it provides — such as aligning with their wellness goals or caring for the planet.

“What organic brings is this transparency of trust,” Parker said. “They want authenticity and storytelling, and they want to feel good about what they’re buying.”

Berries Are Boss

Organic fruit outperformed its conventionally grown counterpart, according to Circana, growing 8.6% in dollar sales and 9.5% in volume. In comparison, conventional fruit sales increased 5.6% in dollar sales and 4.7% in volume.

Fresh vegetables saw modest gains in both the organic and conventional categories. Dollar sales for organic vegetables grew 2.6% and volume sales increased 1.2%. For conventional items, dollar sales grew 1.1% and volume sales increased 2.2%.

“Historically, people are not as interested [in organic] if they don’t eat the peel,” Parker said. “While there are healthy sales in organic avocados, citrus and bananas, when you talk to consumers who are extremely organically inclined, they tend to view organic as a nice-to-have for those items.”

Another reason for fruit’s dominance in the organic category, she said, is the trend of healthy snacking. Consumers are eating more snacks throughout the day rather than having big meals, she said, and “fruit is imminently snackable.”

In addition, people are increasingly leaning toward fruit-topped breakfast options such as Greek yogurt and acai bowls, Parker said. Fresh fruit — and even better if it’s organic — aligns with consumers’ desire to make healthy choices based on wellness goals.

Among fruit commodities, organic berries were consumers’ No. 1 choice during the 52-week period ending April 20, 2025. Circana data shows they were the top sellers in dollar sales, up 7.5% over the prior year to $2.1 billion. Strawberries were the bestselling berry variety, up 6.9% in dollar sales, followed by blueberries and raspberries.

Apples took second place at $912 million (up 2.4%), followed by bananas at $697 million (up 14.9%). Organic bananas took the lead in volume sales (up 16.3% over the previous year to 978 million pounds), while apples and berries ranked second and third.

At Aldi, Duesenberg said stores experienced major gains in 2024 for bananas.

“Shoppers took home 43 million pounds of organic bananas,” he said. Organic berries and avocados were the category’s rising stars, he added, with a growth rate of more than 40% year over year.

“Berries will always be the juggernaut,” Parker said. She recommends that retailers take advantage of their popularity by offering more package sizes in organic and by expanding their offerings beyond the three most popular varieties to satisfy the organic consumer’s desire for exploration.

Consumers are also interested in trying new varieties of organic grapes, she said. Fueled by social media posts that show influencers coating grapes in Jell-O powder or chocolate and then freezing them, the category saw strong sales growth during the last year. Dollar sales increased nearly 18% and volume sales jumped 23%.

Likewise, dollar sales for mangoes increased nearly 31% and volume sales grew 34%.

“We’ve watched dried mangoes and mangoes as ingredients grow, especially among younger consumers,” Parker said. “I’m not surprised that mangoes are having a tremendous 2025.”

Cucumbers Are Having a Moment

In the organic vegetable category, the salads and leafy greens category tallied $2.2 billion in sales. Dollar sales declined 1.8% and volume sales dipped 2.5% compared with the previous year. Spinach was a top seller at $595 million in dollar sales, along with carrots at $546 million. Carrots, salads and leafy greens, and potatoes topped volume sales.

“The softness in organic lettuce and salads is a concerning trend to me,” Parker said.

One reason for the decline, she explained, is that consumers are experiencing “salad fatigue” and are looking for alternatives to traditional, greens-based salads. Spurred by viral social media posts that present creative ways to make salads without lettuce, cucumbers are having a moment, she said.

Circana data shows that dollar sales for organic cucumbers grew more than 15% during the 52-week period ending April 20, and volume sales increased 9.6%.

“Social media influencers have helped consumers see a variety of items in new ways,” Parker said. “Showing people how they can take affordable, simple ingredients they already have and make fresh produce taste great is a huge part of our need to drive demand.”

At Sendik’s Food Market, berries have long been a driving force in the organic category. However, Penfield said he has also seen growth for some unexpected vegetable commodities.

“Potatoes is one that’s surprising,” he said. “In fact, I would say that for a lot of our hard goods we’ve seen significant increases.”

Penfield attributes the trend to simply offering consumers more organic options in the produce aisle.

Inflation Impacts

The Fresh Trends survey found that consumers are feeling the effects of inflation and are taking steps to manage costs.

Nine out of 10 participants said they noticed price increases for produce during the past year, with Gen Z citing increases of more than 25%. Though nearly half of those surveyed said they try to cut nongrocery areas of their budgets first, consumers named organic options among items they are most likely to cut back on in order to stay on budget.

Although inflation remains a factor, its impacts have lessened over the past year.

“The easing of inflation supported stronger consumer sentiment, making organic more accessible to a broader base,” said Tom Chapman, co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association, Washington, D.C.

A newly released report by OTA found that fresh produce was the top-selling organic food category in 2024 and a primary entry point for consumers into the organic market.

“While organic pricing did outpace unit sales growth, both value and volume of organic produce still grew faster than the total market,” Chapman said. “That demonstrates a strong consumer commitment to organic, even in the face of higher prices.”

Penfield confirmed that inflation was less of a factor for shoppers in 2024.

“Last year we looked at a lot of price sensitivity,” he said. “This year, not so much.”

According to Circana, average per-unit pricing for organic produce declined in 52 weeks ending April 20, narrowing the price gap between organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.

“We have always known that if given parity or only a slight increase in the price gap between organic and conventional, consumers will trade up,” Parker said, adding that when prices increase to a certain level, loyal organic produce buyers will keep purchasing. However, occasional upgrade buyers tend to choose conventionally grown produce when organic costs get too high.

Because farmers saw favorable crop yields in many mega-selling categories, Parker said, prices came down for those items. Many fields have now become exclusively dedicated to organic produce in response to consumer demand, she added, which also plays a role in boosting supply.

Traditional supermarkets tend to discount when supply is high, Parker explained, which can lead to produce deflation.

“If the crop is good then, obviously, they’re going to move a lot more at a discounted price and raise the price again when the crop supply is low,” she said. But other types of retail outlets that sell organic produce, such as superstores, tend to offer everyday low prices. “It’s going to put more pressure on that traditional grocer to also offer a value price.”

Cross-Promoting

To boost sales of organic produce, Parker recommends that retailers inspire their customers to broaden their purchases through cross-produce promotions. Instead of promoting a single item, she said, why not offer shoppers a deal if they buy multiple organic produce items at the same time?

“We have an opportunity to incent them with dollars off their total produce spend,” she said. “That will really drive more sales and more loyalty in retailers versus the promotion strategies we have today where all the avocados are on sale, but then they’re fighting within the avocado category.”

Instead, Parker suggested, retailers could say, “Hey, all the avocadoes are on sale, and don’t you also need tomatoes?”

If you think about the market for organic products, she added, the buyer is most often an affluent consumer who is interested in healthy eating across the store.

“So, naturally, they would like to see recommendations and be incented to buy multiple organic items,” Parker said.

Because the organic consumer enjoys taste exploration, she said she thinks retailers will be rewarded by introducing these shoppers to items they may not have purchased previously, such as papayas, dragon fruit and purple sweetpotatoes. Parker also recommends that retailers focus on what’s in season.

Aldi’s Duesenberg confirmed that seasonality, along with local sourcing, is an important driver in organic produce sales. According to FMI’s “The Power of Produce 2024” report, he noted, 89% of consumers made unplanned produce purchases driven in part by displays that highlight items in season.

“Our shoppers are syncing their carts to the calendar, as they’re increasingly shopping for fresh, in-season produce that’s priced right,” he said. “In each of our Aldi stores, we stock around 120 produce items, and that’s intentional. We focus our selection to bring in quality, fresh produce daily that’s locally sourced whenever possible. When shoppers see that our assortment changes with the season, they know they’re getting the best product at the best time, without overpaying.”

For 2025, Duesenberg said, Aldi is focusing its efforts on new growth within its range of organic grapes.

“We believe that customers are looking for a better organic grape,” he said. “Beginning in July, we will carry organic red and organic green grapes featuring the best varieties the season has to offer.”

Penfield said that organic sales are rising steadily at Sendik’s without much in the way of targeted promotion. As stores have expanded their organic offerings, sales have increased.

“We don’t call out the number of organics [that we carry], but we do create signs to call out our organics,” he said. “About three years ago, we made the decision to integrate our organics into our conventional sets, and that has helped.”

The most significant and promising development for the category, he said, is that organic has gone completely mainstream.

“Organic’s not a fad anymore,” he said. “I just go back to a time when people were like, ‘Oh, this is going to go away.’ But it’s had significant growth.

“I think organic is something that our center store doesn’t have great penetration for, or offerings or even communication about,” he continued. “Fresh is the best offering, and I think that’s why we see growth.”

Blueberries in the Spotlight: Celebrating National Blueberry Month with Fresh Trends, Tech Innovation

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 18:19:31 GMT

July marks National Blueberry Month, and with National Blueberry Day falling on July 8, there’s plenty of reason to celebrate the sweet, antioxidant-rich berry that continues to earn its place in U.S. shopping carts.

From smoothies and salads to snack packs and baked goods, blueberries remain one of the most versatile and beloved fruits in the produce aisle, and data shows its popularity holding strong.

According to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 — its most comprehensive consumer report to date — 54% of surveyed shoppers reported purchasing blueberries in the past 12 months, a number that has remained steady since 2024 and is significantly higher than the 37% recorded for 2023.

The report, which surveyed more than 1,050 U.S. consumers (53% female; 47% male) across generations and income levels, reveals several noteworthy patterns in blueberry buying behavior:

Higher-income households (earning more than $100,000 annually) are most likely to buy blueberries, with 64% reporting purchases.
Age is a key factor, with consumers aged 50 and older most frequently reporting they bought blueberries in the previous 12 months — 60% of those aged 50 to 59 and 59% of those 60-plus reported purchases.
Regional preferences vary slightly, with consumers in the West leading the way (60%) followed by the Midwest (56%), Northeast (53%) and South (49%).
The presence of children in the household had little impact on blueberry purchase behavior.
When it comes to farming practices, 52% of blueberry buyers preferred conventional, 20% chose only organic and 24% reported buying both.

These insights highlight blueberries’ broad appeal across demographics, and for Steve Mantle, CEO and founder of Innov8.ag , they also signal opportunity. The Washington state-based agricultural data services company works with blueberry growers and breeders to implement actionable agtech solutions while also unlocking new insights by aggregating data across technology platforms.

A Green Atlas cartographer is shown mapping a blueberry field.

(Photo courtesy of Innov8.ag)

Mantle says Innov8.ag is the lead collaborator since 2022 working in partnership with the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) to implement the BerrySmart Fields program , a collaborative experience between blueberry growers, researchers and tech providers to optimize farming operations, focusing on soil, soil nutrients, yield distribution, weather, chemicals and labor.

“Blueberries are at a precipice of a tech and data revolution driving more efficient, sustainable and, ultimately, profitable berry production,” Mantle says.

“In the last few years alone, we’ve seen everything from robotic field transporters, automated harvest scales and solar-powered blueberry harvesters aimed at making production and labor more efficient to high-definition soil and crop mapping for detailed field nutrient mapping and highly accurate bud, bloom and berry counts,” he adds. “Last summer, we had over 200 growers attend the USHBC and Oregon State University BerrySmart Fields Day event to see these technologies for themselves. We expect just as many, if not more, for this year’s event coming up this month. The blueberry industry is hungry for actionable solutions to its biggest pain points.”

The next step — connecting the data dots between disparate technologies — is where Mantle says they are seeing a real revolution across the entire industry, impacting everything from breeding, production practices and field management to how blueberry businesses market and sell their products.

For instance, Mantle says Innov8.ag has been spearheading several data-focused pilot programs for USHBC BerrySmart Field’s program, using artificial intelligence to analyze data from satellite imagery and on-farm collection to help understand the seasonal variation of blueberry farms, including harvest maturity dates by varietal as well as the size of blueberry production by region.

“This sort of data-powered ‘reality check’ gives blueberry businesses the real-time forecasting they need to make smart, informed decisions that maximize their seasonal profitability and deliver to consumers the high-quality, sustainably produced blueberries they are demanding,” he says.

A U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council report says blueberries add billions to the country’s economy.

(Image courtesy of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council )

Blueberries Add Billions to the U.S. Economy as Consumers Grab a Boost of Blue

Blueberry growers and importers deliver a powerhouse crop that contributes nearly $9.1 billion in annual economic impact to the U.S. economy, or nearly $25 million every day, according to reports issued from the USHBC.

“The new reports reaffirm what our industry has long recognized — blueberry growers have a powerful and positive impact on the U.S. economy,” says Kasey Cronquist, president of the USHBC. “Thanks to the ongoing commitment of growers and our import partners, blueberries are available to consumers year-round, contributing to spending that helps create and maintain thousands of jobs and delivers billions in economic activity nationwide.”

In addition to the $9.1 billion in total economic impact, which reflects increased business activity from both U.S.-grown and imported blueberries, according to a news release, the new economic impact study also shows:

Jobs — The U.S. highbush blueberry industry, supported by both domestic growers and international import partners, creates and sustains 61,676 full-time equivalent jobs each year. These jobs are a result of the business activities of growers and the multiplier effect that spending generates across a variety of farming and non-farming sectors.
Labor income — $3.3 billion in labor income is generated annually by the business activities of growers, equating to $9.1 million each day. These are dollars that go to wages and salaries for new employment, as well as expanded incomes to those already in the labor force for activities such as overtime pay. These dollars are then diffused throughout the U.S. economy as the funds are spent on crucial goods and services such as food, housing, transportation and health care.
Indirect business taxes — Each year, about $277.9 million in indirect business taxes, not including income taxes, are generated by the U.S. highbush blueberry industry, from both domestic growers and import partners. These collective indirect business taxes translate to about $761,325 per day.

“The economic impact of blueberry growers is both far-reaching and deeply rooted in the U.S. economy,” Cronquist says. “From job creation to tax revenue, blueberry growers fuel sustained economic activity in every region of the country.”

In the U.S. specifically, the country’s highbush blueberry industry accounts for $6.7 billion in annual economic impact, or about $18.3 million per day, while creating and sustaining 49,260 full-time equivalent jobs supported by the business activities of U.S. growers, the release said. Additionally, U.S. highbush blueberry growers generate nearly $2.4 billion in labor income each year, equating to about $6.7 million per day, and indirect business taxes generated by grower spending totals nearly $193.1 million annually, or $529,000 per day, not including income taxes, the release said.

Better From the Backyard: Fresh Trends 2025 Explores Consumers’ Love Affair With Local Produce

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:09:20 GMT

Consumers love locally grown produce, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey finds, with 2 in 3 saying they feel strongly about buying local fruits and vegetables.

The annual survey examining shopper purchasing behavior in fresh produce also revealed that households with kids are especially keen on purchasing local, with 79% of households with kids at home saying they feel strongly about buying local produce, compared to 60% of households without kids.

Two in three consumers say they feel strongly about buying locally grown produce.

(Image by Lindsey Pound)

Regionally speaking, consumers in the Northeast (74%) and South (68%) are most likely to feel strongly about buying local, compared to 65% of both Midwesterners and shoppers in the West.

But the Fresh Trends 2025 survey — fielded to more than 1,050 consumers from across the U.S., representing five generations and multiple income levels — also shows that consumers are feeling the effects of inflation and higher grocery prices, which for some may present a barrier to purchase.

The survey asked: “If price was not an issue, which of the following items would you purchase more of? Please select all that apply.” Respondents selected from a list that included locally grown and organic, among other produce items. Fifty-eight percent of consumers indicated they’d buy more locally grown produce if price were not an issue, and 55% indicated they’d purchase more organic fruits and vegetables.

Baby boomers and Gen X seemed to indicate the greatest sensitivity to price when it comes to purchasing local produce, with a whopping 74% of boomers and 65% of Gen X indicating they’d buy more locally grown fruits and veggies if price were not an issue. Forty-three percent of Gen Z, 53% of millennials and 47% of traditionalists indicated they’d buy more locally grown produce if price were not an issue.

Interestingly, fewer baby boomers and Gen Xers indicated they’d purchase more organic produce if price were not an issue, with 48% of baby boomers and 54% of Gen Xers saying so.

Younger Consumers, Men Buying More Local

Fresh Trends 2025 found that millennials and Gen Z led the way with local this year, with 47% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z saying they’re buying more locally grown produce than a year ago, compared to 26% of Gen X, 18% of baby boomers and just 12% of traditionalists.

(Fresh Trends 2025)

Having children in the household also proved a powerful driver of locally grown produce purchase, with more than twice the number of households with kids (51%) than households without kids (24%) reporting they’d purchased more local produce than a year ago.

The highest rate of consumers who reported buying more locally grown produce than a year ago was in the Northeast (41%), compared with 36% of those in the South, 32% in the Midwest and 30% in the West.

And while throughout the survey men and women responded similarly, the gender divide was most dramatic on the question of whether consumers are purchasing more local than a year ago. Forty-two percent of men indicated they are buying more locally grown produce, compared to just 29% of women.

(Fresh Trends 2025)

Who’s Showing Local the Most Love?

Fresh Trends 2025 separately surveyed more than 50 consumers taking GLP-1 medication on their produce purchasing habits. Eighty-four percent of consumers taking GLP-1 medication indicated they have increased their produce consumption, with apples, bananas, tomatoes, avocados and grapes topping their produce purchase list.

(Fresh Trends 2025)

GLP-1 patients also indicated a strong preference for local, with 85% saying they feel strongly about buying it and 62% of whom say they are purchasing more local produce than a year ago.

Fresh Trends 2025: Consumers Rank Importance of Sustainability Practices

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 21:08:02 GMT

Every year, The Packer’s Fresh Trends survey asks consumers about their fresh produce buying patterns and perspectives, including about sustainability issues. The Fresh Trends 2025 survey data shows that packaging details tend to outweigh production details for sustainability-minded consumers.

Survey participants for the 2025 report were asked to rank five sustainability-focused practices in order of importance. Based on average rankings across all respondents, biodegradable packaging was seen as the most important, followed by no packaging in second place, and water conservation practices in third place. Organic growing practices and biodegradable produce labels were tied for least important with the same average ranking.

These findings fit with findings from similar consumer sustainability research done by the International Fresh Produce Association.

“Just over half of consumers consider sustainability attributes, such as growing methods and packaging materials, when purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables,” Gina Jones, IFPA vice president of global insights, told The Packer.

Jones shared that, according to IFPA’s 2024 Consumer Tracker report , 58% of respondents reported they are willing to change their lifestyle if it benefits the environment. Additionally, 44% of respondents said they are willing to pay more for products they see as helping the environment. This includes packaging.

According to IFPA’s report, slightly over half of respondents were willing to spend more for products in recyclable or compostable packaging. Respondents said they were willing to pay about 6.5% more for these types of packaging.

Sustainability Perceptions Across the Generations

There were strong age-related trends in how consumers ranked the importance of different sustainability issues in The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 report.

For example, millennial and Gen Z respondents joined with traditionalist (those born before 1945) respondents when it came to the comparative importance of packaging issues. Respondents in those generational groups ranked biodegradable packaging as the most important sustainability practice more often than did other age groups. Similarly, the youngest respondents and the oldest respondents ranked no packaging as the second-most important sustainability practice more often than respondents in other age groups.

While organic growing practices were ranked overall as the least important sustainability practice when weighted averages were considered, the specific responses were very polarized. Of all survey respondents, 24% ranked organic production as the most important — a relatively large proportion when compared to 28% for biodegradable packaging and 23% for no packaging.

Notably, millennial respondents in particular were more likely than average respondents to rank organic growing practices as the most important sustainability practice at 27% compared to 24%. They were also more likely to report being willing to pay more for organic produce than other age groups, with 16% of millennial respondents saying they would pay 50% or more on organic produce.

But it’s worth keeping in mind that 30% of all respondents ranked organic growing practices as the least important sustainability practice. This is a large part of why the average ranking of organic growing practices was so low. This devaluing of organic practices also showed stark age-related trends. Baby boomer (born 1946-1964) and traditionalist respondents ranked organic growing practices as the least important sustainability practice more often — at 36% and 59%, respectively — than the average of all respondents. These age groups were less willing to spend more on organic produce, with almost no respondents in those age groups reporting being willing to spend more than 24% on organic produce.

Other (Local) Areas of Sustainability

There are other sustainability-related issues of concern to consumers besides packaging and organics, of course, and that concern is growing. The IFPA report found that consumer interest increased dramatically in every sustainability topic it asked about in 2024 compared with 2023. For example, it found that pesticides were the strongest influence at 49% on fresh produce purchasing decisions for respondents in 2024. This compares with 27% of respondents saying pesticides influenced their purchasing decisions in 2023, when pesticides were still the top influencer.

The IFPA report also found that consumers are willing to purchase fresh produce making sustainability claims, even if they aren’t all that familiar with those claims. For example, 3 in 4 (75%) respondents said they would buy produce labeled “sustainably grown,” but only half that number (38%) reported they could define the phrase.

“Consumers are most confident in defining the term ‘locally grown,’ followed by recyclable packaging, greenhouse grown, and organic,” Jones noted.

Locally grown produce was also seen as being of high quality and safe, according to the IFPA report. Respondents also reported being willing to pay a premium for locally grown produce, roughly 10% more in fact, the highest reported premium compared to other produce method claims like organic (9.35% more), greenhouse grown (7.66% more) or sustainably grown (7.38% more).

Respondents to the Fresh Trends 2025 survey similarly reported interest in locally grown fresh produce , with 68% of respondents saying they felt strongly about buying fresh local produce. About a third of respondents reported buying more locally grown produce in 2024 compared with 2023, and 58% said they would buy more if price was no object.

Related: Get more insights by downloading the Fresh Trends 2025 report here.

Solid Crops and Shopper-Focused Strategies Help Berries Shine in the Retail Spotlight

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 11:58:59 GMT

Summer berries are in peak season, and growers across the U.S. say it’s shaping up to be a flavorful year.

From strawberries and blueberries to raspberries and blackberries, here is what’s in season, what’s trending and what retailers need to know to keep berry sales booming.

Consumer insights

Data from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 report underscore just how vital berries remain to the produce department. From consumer buying habits and demographics to favored varieties and organic preferences, data from the annual consumer survey reveals where berries are performing well.

Strawberries

Strawberries were No. 8 among the top 10 fruits and vegetables that consumers reported purchasing, as 54% of shoppers indicated they bought strawberries during the past 12 months.

Strawberries are also the commodity that consumers most frequently reported purchasing as organic, with 23% saying they bought organic strawberries during the past year.

Baby boomers (69%) are who most frequently reported making a strawberry purchase, followed by Gen X (56%), millennials (50%), Gen Z (48%) and traditionalists (35%).

Blackberries

For blackberries, consumers with over $100,000 in annual household income (46%) most frequently said they bought blackberries in the past 12 months, with the lowest rate of reported purchases (21%) among those making less than $25,000 a year.

Consumers in the West most frequently reported purchasing blackberries (39%), followed by the Midwest (35%), Northeast (34%) and South (31%).

Of those who indicated blackberry purchases, 52% said they preferred to buy conventional blackberries, compared with 20% who only purchased organic blackberries and 25% who bought a combination of organic and conventional. Consumers who most often said they bought conventional blackberries were those without dependent children (60%), those aged 50 to 59 (71%) and those aged 60 or older (73%).

Blueberries

Blueberries continue to be a consumer favorite, according to Fresh Trends 2025 data, with 54% of respondents saying they bought blueberries in the past 12 months.

Higher-income consumers most frequently said they bought blueberries, with 64% of surveyed shoppers with more than $100,000 in annual household income indicating purchases.

Older consumers were the most frequent in reporting blueberry purchases, with 60% of those aged 50-59 and 59% of those aged 60 or older saying they added blueberries to their shopping carts in the past year.

Consumers in the West most often indicated they bought blueberries (60%), followed by the Midwest (56%), Northeast (53%) and South (49%).

Of those who purchased blueberries, most said they prefer to buy conventionally grown blueberries (52%), compared to 20% who purchased organic exclusively and 24% who purchased a mix of both conventional and organic. Consumers aged 50 or older that live in the Midwest were the most frequent to report buying conventionally grown blueberries.

Raspberries

Like the other berries, annual household income appeared to be a factor in reported raspberry purchase rates, with 35% of consumers earning $50,000 to $100,000 and 37% of earning over $100,000 saying they bought raspberries in the past 12 months. This compares with just 21% of those with annual household incomes of $25,000 to $50,000.

Generationally speaking, the consumers who most frequently reported purchasing raspberries in the past 12 months were Gen Z (30%), Gen X (32%) and baby boomers (38%).

The majority, or 59%, of consumers said they purchased conventional raspberries, compared with 15% who said they purchased only organic raspberries, while 23% indicated they purchased both conventional and organic.

Gen Z most frequently reported purchasing organics in this category, with 38% saying they bought organic raspberries in the past 12 months, more than double the percentage of millennials (14%) and Gen Xers (15%).

“As more people are prioritizing health span over lifespan, they’re turning to fresh, functional foods to support long-term wellness, and strawberries are leading the way,” said Amanda Armstrong, marketing director for Nature Fresh Farms.

(Photo courtesy of Nature Fresh Farms)

Nature Fresh Farms

Amanda Armstrong, marketing director for Nature Fresh Farms, said anticipation is building for what’s ahead as it finishes its current season.

“This upcoming season promises to be our most flavorful yet. Our focus remains unwavering — delivering Little Obsessions organic strawberries that are truly ‘so good you can’t resist,’” Armstrong said. “With our commitment to quality and innovation, we’re positioning for a season that will set new standards for year-round berry excellence.”

Armstrong said Nature Fresh Farms’ organic Little Obsessions berries offer summertime flavor and freshness no matter the season.

“Grown greenhouse-clean, they’re not only bursting with taste but also good for you and the planet,” Armstrong said. “It’s the berry experience you remember, with the consistency you can count on. As more people are prioritizing health span over lifespan, they’re turning to fresh, functional foods to support long-term wellness, and strawberries are leading the way. With our greenhouse-grown strawberries available year-round, health-focused shoppers can enjoy fresh, organic berries whenever they want.”

Armstrong said consumers should seek berries that promise an experience.

“Look for varieties that deliver that perfect balance of sweetness and juiciness that makes you close your eyes and savor the moment,” she said. “Our organic Little Obsessions are specifically chosen for their ability to create those ‘can’t resist’ moments — berries so fresh and flavorful they redefine expectations, start conversations and create connections.”

Northwest Berry Foundation

In Oregon, strawberries are just coming into season, explained Julie Pond, executive director for the Northwest Berry Foundation.

“Early and midseason June-bearing strawberry varieties are available now, and later season June-bearing varieties will be available in the next week or two. Day-neutral strawberries like Albion are available locally now and will continue to be available through September,” Pond said near the end of May. “The earliest blackberry varieties have just finished blooming, and right now the season is looking to be a week earlier than normal. Harvest should start around late June. Red raspberry is currently in bloom right now with a mid-June start. Blueberry just finished a great pollination season, and fruit is swelling for a late-June harvest start. Tack on 10 days, and that’s where Washington timing is, generally speaking, though eastern Washington blueberries should begin mid-June.

Overall, the season is looking good for all berries so far, Pond said.

“Growers are cautiously optimistic. Pollination weather was favorable, and it looks like an average crop in all berries,” Pond explained. “This past winter was moderate, which made a difference compared to the last couple of prior winters, which had some extended cold stretches. This year the plants didn’t need to adjust to winter concerns.”

From a fresh, local perspective, Pond said consumers like the up-and-coming varieties and varieties that are different from the usual run-of-the-mill ones.

“Don’t get me wrong, the tried-and-true varieties will always have traction in the region, but any unique colored berries or really any new varieties are fun to experience,” Pond said. “We’re fortunate to have a few longstanding berry breeding programs in the Pacific Northwest, which gives growers and consumers an opportunity to find the right varieties for our exact conditions and needs.”

Consumers should expect great quality berries coming out of the Pacific Northwest, Pond said, adding, “Take advantage of the season while it’s happening. Take the opportunity to try some new varieties while enjoying the tried-and-true ones we have.”

Blackberries are now in season in California, said Erin Mittelstaedt, CEO of The FruitGuys.

(Photo courtesy of The FruitGuys)

The FruitGuys

Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are all in season right now in California, said Erin Mittelstaedt, CEO of The FruitGuys.

“California berry season typically starts with strawberries in February, followed by blueberries in April, blackberries in May and raspberries in June,” she said. “Florida’s strawberry season is already over; its strawberries are actually best during the winter months, typically peaking in February and March.”

Grapes and kiwifruit are technically berries, too, Mittelstaedt said, “even though we don’t usually think of them that way. California farmers are already harvesting the first grapes of the season. We should see kiwis in the fall, and we also always look forward to kiwi berries from the Pacific Northwest in September and October.”

Like all of the fruit seasons, berry season arrives at different times across the country, Mittelstaedt said.

“Florida and California farmers harvest their berries first, followed by farmers in the Midwest and on the East Coast,” she said. “Our farm partners in Pennsylvania, for example, usually harvest their strawberries in late May and June, raspberries in June and July, and blackberries from July to September. So, if you’re on the East Coast, expect to wait a little longer for some of those local fruits.”

Mittelstaedt said The FruitGuys is seeing more interest in unique and unusual fruits across the board, including berries. “Customers love it when we can sneak something different into our mixes, like kiwi berries (which look like miniature, fuzz-less kiwis) or pineberries (strawberry relatives with white skin and red seeds).

“Apart from that, this has been a fantastic year for California strawberries and blueberries,” she added. “They’re in great supply, and their flavor is delicious, so enjoy them this summer while they last.”

Consumers should look for berries that are brightly colored and firm, Mittelstaedt said.

“Size isn’t necessarily important (it varies from variety to variety), but smaller berries may have a more intense flavor,” she said. “Pass on berries that look squished, bruised or wet in the container — they could mold more quickly.

“For strawberries in particular, you can also look for bright green leaves. If the leaves are browning or dry, it means the berries may not be as fresh” she added. “At home or in the office, store your berries in the fridge and wait to wash them until right before you eat them. That will help them last longer.”

Wilmot Orchards’ varieties that produce larger berries are its most popular, said Courtney Stevens, chief operating officer and owner.

(Photo courtesy of Wilmot Orchards)

Wilmot Orchards

The Wilmot Orchards blueberry season typically starts in late July and runs to the middle or end of August, depending on the year, said Courtney Stevens, chief operating officer and owner.

Across the 11 different varieties of blueberries Wilmot has for picking, the varieties that produce larger berries are always the most popular, Stevens said.

“A few years ago, we planted two new varieties for us, Bonus and Valor,” she said. “They’re the largest of our varieties and will be producing even more this year as the bushes are maturing.

“We’re also expecting the ‘Made in Canada’ trend to continue into the summer,” she added. “We’re excited to offer our many products that are not only made in Canada and with our blueberries but made in Ontario through our partnership with fellow family-owned businesses, such as our blueberry jams, [barbecue] sauce and habanero jelly, all perfect to enjoy during the summer.”

Consumers should ensure they’re buying completely ripe berries, Stevens said.

“This means the berry is completely the color it should be. For blueberries, that means that each berry should be blue all over. If they’re not ripe, the berries may be white, green or pink at the bottom of the berry where the stem would have been. This will ensure the best flavor and most nutrients,” she said. “Buying in season will also ensure the best flavor, as the berries are not being picked while under-ripe to make sure they’re still firm when they finally arrive at the grocery store. The best berries always come directly from the farm, again because they are picked at the peak of their ripeness, so they’ll have the best flavor.”

California Giant Berry Farms

California Giant Berry Farms is currently harvesting high-quality strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, with year-round availability thanks to its global growing regions, said Tim Youmans, vice president of sales.

“Strawberries are currently coming from Watsonville/Salinas and Santa Maria, Calif., blueberries from California’s Central Valley, and blackberries and raspberries primarily from Mexico, with light supplies from Watsonville, Calif.,” he said.

Consumer trends continue to emphasize health and wellness, driving demand for nutrient-rich berries in various culinary applications, from innovative savory dishes to refreshing beverages, Youmans said.

“We’re seeing increased interest in versatile usage and convenient snacking options, which our premium berries perfectly complement,” he said. “Our focus remains on continuous improvement in flavor and shelf life, ensuring we consistently provide the best berry experience for our consumers and partners.”

When picking out berries this season, Youmans said consumers should look for bright, uniform color and firmness across all varieties.

“For strawberries, choose those that are bright red with a natural sheen and fresh, green leaves (the calyx), as they don’t ripen after harvest. Blueberries should be a bright blue with a natural powdery ‘bloom’ and feel firm,” he said. “Raspberries should be bright and consistent in color, while blackberries should be an inky, deep purple. Always check the entire container to ensure it’s free from crushed, moldy or bruised berries and any excess moisture.”

North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association

The summer of 2025 is looking like a great year for berries across the country, said Darcy Kochis, executive director for the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association.

“Of course, depending on the region where you’re in, you can get strawberries and raspberries as early as now, and when you move into the colder regions, you know it’s usually around June when you’re starting to see your first raspberries. When you’re looking at the southeast, you’re getting blackberries around that time, or even early June,” Kochis said. “We’ve got some really wonderful varieties of blackberries and raspberries that are being grown all throughout the country, specific to their region. We have great breeding programs out of North Carolina, Arkansas and Oregon that naturally plant breed new varieties that are delicious for people to eat and also for growers to grow. So, we’re excited about the variety of blackberries and raspberries that we have coming out of the different areas.”

While fresh berries can be found year-round, Kochis said, consumers can check packaging for “grown in the U.S.” during the summer to support U.S. farmers and U.S.-grown berries that are mainly available in the summertime.

Berries are an important part of the produce aisle, Kochis said.

“If you walk into a grocery store, you always see berries first, first thing in the fruits and vegetables section. They’re always front and center, and that’s because consumers love them,” Kochis said. “They do really well at retailers, and we want to make sure that we’re all supporting each other by producing good quality fruit that can go through those markets quickly and into consumers’ bellies.”

Naturipe Farms said its raspberries are headed into a peak in June, with crops boasting both strong quality as well as promotable volumes.

(Photo courtesy of Naturipe Farms)

Naturipe Farms

Naturipe Farms kicked off its domestic season with promotable volumes of Southern-grown berries, the company said in a news release.

Blackberries from the southeast are led by Georgia-grown fruit and feature its sought-after proprietary variety, Southern Grace. With Mexico’s crop winding down and domestic production ramping up, this year’s blackberry season is off to a strong start, according to the company.

“Our Southern Grace variety delivers exceptional flavor and consistently high quality, and we’re excited to bring this delightful berry to our retail partners at just the right time,” said Fernando Aguiar, director of business development for Naturipe Farms. “It’s a unique opportunity to promote a regionally grown blackberry that really stands out on the shelf — and in the clamshell.”

Naturipe Farms’ domestic blackberry peak was expected to begin in late May and run through most of June, with promotable volumes available in both 6-ounce and 12-ounce clamshells. This is an ideal time for retailers to capitalize on consumer demand for local and regionally sourced foods, highlighting the Georgia origins of Naturipe blackberries and driving purchases during a key window for berry sales, the company said.

Naturipe raspberries are also headed into a peak in June, with crops boasting both strong quality as well as promotable volumes. All Naturipe’s raspberries are 100% proprietary varieties and are specially bred for flavor and appearance, the company said. Naturipe’s raspberries are available in the same 6-ounce and 12-ounce pack sizes.

“June is a great time to run a dual blackberry and raspberry promotion,” Aguiar said. “It’s a one-two punch of flavor, quality and value.”

Picking Plums Comes Down to Rightness Rather than Ripeness

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 16:41:51 GMT

How do you like your plums? Firm or soft? And which are ripe?

Not many consumers actually know how to spot a ripe plum, but because plums are ripe before going out at the grocery store, it comes down to what’s right according to the consumer.

Every year, The Packer conducts its Fresh Trends survey of American consumers on their fresh produce purchase behavior. The Fresh Trends 2025 Report asked consumers two questions about picking ripe fruit:

Do you feel comfortable selecting a ripe [fruit] for immediate consumption?
Do you know how to ripen [fruit] once you get them home?

For plums, just under a quarter (24%) of respondents reported feeling comfortable picking a ripe, ready-to-eat plum. There were some key differences across respondent age groups, however.

Respondents under the age of 50 years had relatively low rates of reporting comfort with plum ripeness at 12% of respondents 18 to 29 years old, 17% 30 to 39 years old and 19% of 40 to 49 years old. For the two oldest age groups of 50 to 59 years and 60 years and older, the response rates were considerably higher at 34% and 36% respectively.

Functionally all of the domestic production of plums happens in California. For Courtney Razor, director of member services and communications for the California Fresh Fruit Association, the age differences in respondents’ reported ripeness comfort were not surprising.

“Customers who buy fresh stone fruit regularly when it is in season have the experience of assessing what their preferences are versus customers who maybe only buy a plum once a season.”

She additionally encouraged consumers to purchase stone fruit such as plums and nectarines throughout the April through October season to build up their experience with what each of the different varieties offer.

Rightness versus ripeness

Consumer experience is key when it comes to picking stone fruit like plums because stone fruit available at a grocery store is technically ripe.

Like nectarines, some plum varieties are harvested when they are “firm ripe,” while others are harvested once they start softening, according to the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources system .

“When buying fresh plums at the store, consumers should have the confidence they are purchasing a ripe, ready-to-eat piece of fruit,” Razor said.

With plums being ripe by the time they reach the consumer, it leaves the decision on rightness — rather than ripeness — up to consumer preference.

“For example, I enjoy my plums a bit more tart and hard whereas someone else may enjoy them soft and juicy,” Razor explained. “Plums are unique because there are several varieties as well as hybrids, such as the pluot (a cross between a plum and an apricot).”

When asked if they knew how to ripen a plum at home, only 16% of Fresh Trends 2025 respondents said yes. Respondents could be forgiven for not knowing because the fruit they get at the store is technically ripe.

If a consumer selects a plum that is firmer than they prefer, it can continue to be ripened on the counter at room temperature or in a brown paper bag. Once it has reached the desired softness, plums can be stored in the refrigerator.

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Fresh Trends 2025: Is the Time Right for Value-Add?

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:07:25 GMT

While The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey found that consumers are quick to cut back on value-added produce when they’re pinching pennies, more than half of consumers surveyed, or 55%, reported having purchased more value-added (fresh-cut fruit and veggies, ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat) produce in the past five years.

That percentage increased significantly among consumers with dependent children. Seventy-seven percent of households with two dependent children and 72% of households with three or more dependents reported purchasing more value-added produce in the past five years.

And when asked, “If price were not an issue, which of the following items would you purchase more of?” 33% of consumers indicated value-added produce.

Jonna Parker, vice president of the fresh foods group for Circana, sees opportunity in the category.

“There’s some really positive points in value-added produce,” she said. “With fresh mango, for example, a good portion of the category is in value-add.”

Perhaps related, Fresh Trends 2025 found that only 33% of consumers feel comfortable selecting a ripe mango for immediate consumption.

Fresh Trends 2025 found that more than half of consumers surveyed, or 55%, reported having purchased more value-added (fresh-cut fruit and veggies, ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat) produce in the past five years.

(Photo: Igor Normann, Adobe Stock)

“But other than fruits, some kits and some single-serves salads, the produce convenience category has been relatively flat,” Parker continued. “So, even within value-added produce, there are parts that are growing while other parts are flatlining, and so it’s averaging out to hold steady.”

Saving Time is Key

When talking about value-add, time is of the essence, said Parker.

“Too often we think about value-add produce versus whole produce, when really the choice for the consumer is: Do I have time to make this or is there another solution?

“One of the most important takeaways about value-added produce is that the majority of dinners take 30 minutes or less to prepare, and we’re seeing growth, particularly in things that take between five to 15 minutes and are really about assembly and simple prep,” she said.

Fresh Trends 2025 found that when asked to choose one primary reason for their increased purchase of value-added produce, convenience and saving time was the No. 1 driver at 44% of consumers. Thirty percent cited flavor and taste; 17% chose “value” and just 9% indicated reduced waste.

Fresh Trends 2025 found shoppers crave the convenience of value-added produce.

(Photo: Katecat, Adobe Stock)

Not surprisingly, at 51%, families with three or more dependent children cited convenience and saving time as the primary reason to purchase more value-added produce than any other demographic.

Generationally speaking, 47% of Gen Z, 42% of millennials, 46% of Gen X, 43% of baby boomers and 27% of traditionalists indicated convenience and saving time were the primary drivers to purchase value-added produce items.

Forty-two percent of baby boomers said they buy prepared produce from retail foodservice once a week.

(Photo: nikolaydonetsk, Adobe Stock)

Who’s Buying More

Another positive for the category: 62% of consumers said they anticipate continuing to buy more value-added or prepared produce over the next 12 months. And again, that percentage surges for households with dependent children.

Eighty-two percent of households with two dependent children and 77% of households with three or more dependent children said they anticipate continuing to buy more value-added produce in the next 12 months.

Younger shoppers led the way in terms of expecting to buy more value-added/prepared produce in the next 12 months, with 74% of millennials and 64% of Gen Z indicating so, compared to 59% of Gen X, 44% of baby boomers and 47% of traditionalists.

Frequency of Purchase

At 42%, baby boomers are the generation reporting the strongest buying of prepared produce from retail foodservice at a cadence of once a week.

Related: Get more insights by downloading the Fresh Trends 2025 report here.

New Cantaloupe Varieties Complicate Ripeness Rules

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:45:17 GMT

You might think you know how to pick a ripe cantaloupe, but recent data suggests you’d be an outlier. To make things more complex, new cantaloupe varieties come with different ripeness rules, meaning even those who think they know a ripe melon when they see one might be wrong.

Every year, The Packer conducts its Fresh Trends survey of American consumers on their fresh produce purchase behavior. The Fresh Trends 2025 Report asked consumers two questions about picking ripe fruit:

Do you feel comfortable selecting a ripe [fruit] for immediate consumption?
Do you know how to ripen [fruit] once you get them home?

The differences in answers across fruit could be extreme. Most survey respondents (72%) reported they were comfortable picking ready-to-eat bananas — the most familiar fruit in the lineup — and knew how to ripen unripe bananas at home (63%). Familiarity with fruit ripeness went down from there, however.

For cantaloupes, only a third of respondents said they were comfortable selecting a ripe, ready-to-eat melon. When it came to ripening know-how, only 21% of respondents said they knew how to ripen a cantaloupe at home.

There were some interesting demographic trends when it came to ripeness knowledge around cantaloupes.

Unlike many other fruit, there was no relevant increase in reported ripeness knowledge as household income grew. Instead, there was stark age-related ripeness knowledge differences reported, with 52% of the oldest respondents (60 years and older) reporting comfort with picking a ripe, ready-to-eat cantaloupe. This compares to 26% of respondents aged 18 to 29 years, and 23% of respondents aged 30 to 39 years.

The age-related ripeness knowledge trend did not continue when it came to ripening a cantaloupe at home. With the exception of respondents aged 30 to 39 years, only 16% of whom reported knowing how to ripen a cantaloupe at home, all other age groups reported knowing how at roughly the same rate (21% to 23%).

Confounding new cantaloupe varieties

Regardless where consumers think they stand on their cantaloupe ripeness knowledge, recent changes in the cantaloupe industry mean there are new rules for judging ripeness.

“The issue is that in within the past five years, older cantaloupe varieties have almost completely been replaced by newer varieties that ripen much differently,” explained Marilyn Freeman, owner of Farmers Communication Exchange, which handles consumer marketing for the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. California grows roughly two-thirds of U.S. cantaloupes.

This industrywide shift to newer varieties “means that much of the information out there on how to select cantaloupe is outdated and, actually, adds to the confusion,” Freeman continued.

In an early 2022 post by CCAB , the board explained that most cantaloupes available to consumers in the past were the Western Shipper variety. These were the melons where the traditional ripeness tells of a smooth slipped stem, cream coloration between the webbing and a sweet smell applied. But the industry has increasingly moved toward new Long Shelf Life and Extended Shelf Life varieties.

Picking a ripe (new) cantaloupe

“These newer varieties don’t ripen much differently from the older varieties, other than the fact that they don’t emit ethylene, which gives them a longer shelf life,” the CCAB site explained. “This also means that they don’t give off the same traditional, sweet melon smell, even though they typically have higher sugar content than the old varieties.”

According to Freeman, new varieties must meet a minimum sugar level of 12 Brix before they can be harvested, meaning any melon a consumer picks up will be sweet.

New cantaloupe varieties can range in color from greenish to the traditional creamy yellow between the netting. Part of the stem might be retained and the netting may be present on the stem. Cracking and/or softness around the blossom end are no longer considered a fault but are actually signs of ripeness in the new varieties.

“Picking a ripe cantaloupe is easier today than ever before,” Freeman said. “No longer is there a need for smelling or thumping these new cantaloupes.”

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Fresh Trends 2025: Consumers love local, but do they show it?

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 08:48:19 GMT

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey shows 2 in 3 consumers say they feel strongly about buying locally grown produce, and millennials and Gen Z led the way in that category, with 47% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z saying they’re buying more locally grown produce than last year.

But Fresh Trends 2025 finds that while consumers want to spend on local and specialty produce items, their actions may not reflect those desires. Gen Xers and baby boomers are the least frequent in reporting that they bought more local this year compared with last year at 26% and 18%, respectively.

(Graphic: Debbie McShane)

Seventy-nine percent of parents are more likely to feel strongly about buying local produce than non-parents at 60%. Regionally speaking, consumers in the Northeast (74%) are most likely to feel strongly about buying local.

The demographic showing local the most love are GLP-1 patients, 85% of whom say they feel strongly about buying local produce, and 62% of whom say they are purchasing more local produce than a year ago.

And while the majority of consumers say they would buy more fresh produce if price were not a concern, specialty and value-added produce are the least likely categories to see an increase in purchase regardless of price, according to Fresh Trends 2025.

Related: Get more insights by downloading the Fresh Trends 2025 report here.

Few Consumers are Familiar with Papayas

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:00:14 GMT

Have you ever had a papaya? Do you even know what one looks like, let alone how to judge a ripe one? If not, don’t worry; you’re among the majority of Americans.

Every year, The Packer conducts its Fresh Trends survey of American consumers on their fresh produce purchase behavior. Fresh Trends 2025 asked consumers two questions about picking ripe fruit:

Do you feel comfortable selecting a ripe [fruit] for immediate consumption?
Do you know how to ripen [fruit] once you get them home?

Bananas were the most well-known with most survey respondents saying they were comfortable picking ready-to-eat fruit (72%) and knew how to ripen unripe fruit at home (63%). Other fruits were less well known to respondents.

Papayas were the most unknown fruit. Only 16% of survey respondents said they were comfortable picking a ripe, ready-to-eat papaya, and only 14% said they knew how to ripen an unripe papaya at home. These were the lowest response rates of all fruit surveyed by the ripeness questions.

A Hawaiian connection

For Eric Weinert, president of the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association, the results didn’t come as a surprise.

“I think even produce clerks and supermarkets don’t know how to select [a papaya] properly,” he said.

In Weinert’s experience, people who go looking for papaya at the grocery store had it first in Hawaii, the only state in the U.S. that grows the fruit.

“They have a relationship here,” he said of papaya consumers. “No one has introduced them to it in the mainland. They had it in Hawaii, and they liked it so much that they want to try it when they get home.”

The demographic differences in the 2025 Fresh Trends survey data support this, according to Weinert. Respondents living on the West Coast had the highest rate of reporting being comfortable picking a ripe, ready-to-eat papaya (19%) across geographic regions. Respondents with household incomes over $50,000 annually similarly reported being comfortable picking ripe papayas more than did lower-income respondents.

“That just tells me that those people are more likely to visit Hawaii,” Weinert concluded.

Picking a ripe papaya

Papayas range in color and ripeness from fully green and unripe (top/back) to fully yellow and ripe (bottom/front). However, color isn’t the only or best indicator of ripeness. Papayas can be ripe beginning at the color stage of the middle fruit if they is soft to the touch like an avocado.

(Photo courtesy of Hawaii Papaya Industry Association)

Weinert explained that picking a ripe papaya isn’t all that different from selecting other, more familiar fruit.

“This is the simple explanation: Just like a banana, a papaya tastes best when it’s not too green and it’s not too ripe,” he said.

Of course, nothing is simple when it comes to a fruit that has to travel almost the length of the U.S. before it gets from its orchards to the closest port in Southern California.

Weinert explained that the year-round production of papaya and the time it takes to ship them by boat to the mainland means the fruit are harvested at a variety of stages of ripeness. Even a fully green papaya will ripen in about a week if left on the counter in Hawaii’s ambient 82°F, he said. But if a green fruit has been chilled below 55° before it starts showing some color, it will never ripen properly. And many retailers will chill them, not aware of the best handling practices. This means customers might start out in a situation where picking a ripe papaya isn’t possible.

So, Weinert said consumers should also use avocado rules for selecting a papaya.

“Everybody knows how to eat an avocado; you can’t look at it and know if it’s ripe or not, but you squeeze it and you know. It gives a little bit to your finger,” he said. “The same is true for a papaya. Color is one indicator, but it’s really that little bit of give, that softness when you give it a gentle squeeze, that tells you if it’s ripe or not.”

He said when a papaya is about 50% yellow and soft, it is ripe and can be put into the refrigerator. It will continue to ripen and can be stored for several weeks.

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Most Consumers Need Help Mastering Mango Ripeness

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 21:57:11 GMT

Do you know how to pick a ripe mango? What about storing it before putting it out on the produce floor?

If you don’t know, you’re not alone.

Every year The Packer conducts its Fresh Trends survey of U.S. consumers to gather insights on shopping habits and fresh produce preferences. Fresh Trends 2025 asked consumers two questions about picking ripe fruit:

Do you feel comfortable selecting a ripe [fruit] for immediate consumption?
Do you know how to ripen [fruit] once you get them home?

For some beloved standbys, like bananas, most survey respondents said they were comfortable picking ready-to-eat fruit (72%) and knew how to ripen unripe fruit at home (63%). Other fruit were a bit of a mystery to respondents.

Take mangoes, for example. Only a third of Fresh Trends 2025 respondents said they were comfortable selecting a ripe, ready-to-eat mango. When it came to ripening an unripe mango at home, only a quarter of respondents reported knowing how.

“It’s nice to see that, on some level, we have made a difference,” said Lavanya Setia, director of marketing for the National Mango Board. “A few years ago, the number of people who would say they knew how to pick a mango was much lower.”

Setia also said the results show a lot of opportunity since there are still many consumers who don’t know how to select a mango or cut it.

Picking a ripe mango

Consumers’ lack of certainty on mango ripeness isn’t too surprising.

“Mangoes are still an emerging fruit; around 2% of produce volume, on aggregate,” said Angie Thomas, retail account consultant for the National Mango Board. “So, most — again, speaking in aggregate — shoppers are only somewhat familiar with mangoes.”

To complicate the situation, there are a lot of varieties of mangoes available ,and they all ripen differently, Setia adds.

“Some of them get red when they are ripe, some of them get a little wrinkly, some of them don’t change color at all,” she said. “So, how do you have that one message that tells people it’s ripe?”

Despite the difficulty in offering one message, the National Mango Board recommends consumers gently press the mango, much like they would an avocado or a peach, to gauge its ripeness.

When it comes to ripening a mango at home, Setia says that mangoes work like many other fruits; they can be left on the counter to ripen at room temperature. The ripening process can be sped up by placing the mango in a brown bag. Once ripe, whole mangoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.

“If it becomes common knowledge, then they wouldn’t have so much hesitation around buying an unripe mango because they know how to get it ready to eat at home,” she said.

Demographic differences

Fresh Trends 2025 shows some interesting demographic trends relative to mango ripeness knowledge. For example, more respondents who had depending children reported being comfortable selecting a ripe, ready-to-eat mango (44%) compared with those without children (26%).

“I think parents are always trying to get creative with getting kids something nutritious that the kids will enjoy as well,” Setia said. “I have a 5-year-old, and I know how quickly they reach a point where they are bored with what they are eating and they want something new, so you try to experiment.

Similarly, more respondents under the age of 50 reported being comfortable picking a ripe, ready-to-eat mango (38% for those aged 18-29 and 30-39 and 37% of those aged 40-49) compared with older respondents (31% of those aged 50-59 and 22% of those 60 years or older).

Setia credits the age differences in ripeness confidence to two different factors: accessibility and exposure.

“The supply chain has gotten better, so remote parts of the country where you wouldn’t get something like a mango unless there was enough demand now have mangoes,” she said. “The other thing is greater exposure to international cuisines through travel and social media. So, they’re seeing it on TikTok, and if they see a recipe, they will try it out. There’s more openness and more adaptability in that generation.”

Mango education efforts

The National Mango Board has a number of educational efforts underway on how to select ripe mangoes, cutting mangoes and recipes available on its website. But it goes far beyond that.

“We have an array of information available — from digital, social to [point of sale] — and we’re exploring bags that can be offered at the retail level to help with ripening,” Thomas said. “This is an everyday effort, as well as working one-on-one with customers to educate and disseminate and to pulse into all campaigns.”

Setia also said the group has a two-pronged approach to mango education: one side being consumer focused and the other being retailer-focused. She said this latter effort focuses on getting retailers armed with the necessary information to provide good product to customers, answering questions like: “How do you store a mango?” “When is the best time to get a mango out on the shop floor?” “How should the fresh cut department be preparing the mangoes?” and so on.

“So we’re trying to educate both sides so that there is demand and that demand is being met with a high quality product,” she said.

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Organic produce resonates most with younger shoppers, Fresh Trends 2025 finds

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:37:12 GMT

The majority of consumers still predominantly purchase conventionally grown produce or a mix of conventional and organic, according to results of The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey. Strawberries are the produce item most frequently reported to be bought organic, followed by bananas and potatoes.

When considering an organic produce purchase, price is the top factor for consumers, 64% of whom said they weigh if the organic item is worth the extra cost.

Interestingly, despite being most sensitive to food inflation, younger generations — Gen Z and millennials — much more frequently reported buying organic produce than older generations, with millennials — with the highest rate of reported purchases at 1 in 3 — saying the majority of their produce is organic.

Younger generations are also willing to pay a higher price for organic, with 17% of Gen Z and 14% of millennials indicating they would be willing to pay 25% to 49% more for organic, compared to just 3% of Gen X and 7% of baby boomers. Roughly 1 in 5 Gen Xers and baby boomers are unwilling to pay a higher price for organic.

(Photo: Dan Dalton/KOTO, Adobe Stock)

“As a market researcher, I’m not surprised that younger generations are willing to pay more for organic produce,” said Jonna Parker, vice president of the fresh foods group at Circana. “Gen Z has grown up in a world that looks wholly different from the people 10, 20 or 30 years older than them and, ultimately, what’s important to them is different.

“They have always lived in a world with personal variety and choice — from what music to listen to or what makeup or T-shirt to wear and the infinite number of choices in just those three categories — and they’re then frustrated that they don’t have those kinds of choices in produce.

“Organic is a choice. It’s a label. And while it does have meaning, the average American consumer doesn’t understand the science behind it. So, for better or for worse, ‘organic’ has become a descriptive word to younger consumers — a choice — like ‘artisan’ or ‘specialty,’” she continued. “And honestly, even the produce choice for them is often influenced as much by the variety, the brand or the organic label as it is by the availability of it.”

Organic produce resonates more with younger shoppers and they’re willing to pay for it.

(Graphic by Jeff Modean)

While baby boomers more frequently reported buying their organic produce at a regional chain and all other generations more often said they purchase organic at a chain superstore (i.e. Target or Walmart), Fresh Trends 2025 found that Gen Z, at 13%, is the generation most frequently indicating they also buy organic produce from a chain discounter.

“We’ve seen an uptick in smaller format, limited-assortment stores like convenience stores, budget stores and dollar stores starting to expand their produce,” said Parker. And while she said the older population may have a preconceived notion as to the quality of the fresh produce at these stores, the younger generation doesn’t share that bias.

For the sake of convenience, Gen Z buys produce where they are and at the same places they’re already shopping for other things, she said.

“And by the way, I think we are too quick to dismiss the quality and the offerings at other channels for fresh produce,” Parker added. “They have really upped their game. There are snack packs, value-add and, yes, even organics at discount and small-footprint stores that we previously wouldn’t have thought.”

Related: Get more insights by downloading the Fresh Trends 2025 report here.

Fresh Trends 2025: Driving demand in an age of uncertainty

Fri, 30 May 2025 21:02:14 GMT

While higher grocery prices remain a pain point for consumers, the majority still indicate they are eating more fresh produce than a year ago, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey finds. Increased consumption is most notable among younger consumers, with 78% of Gen Z and 75% of millennial survey respondents indicating they are eating more fresh produce than a year ago.

Another positive: 59% of consumers surveyed in this year’s report said they are open to trying new produce items. When asked what, if any, new produce items shoppers were buying now that they weren’t buying two years ago, apples (28%), avocados (27%), bananas (23%), asparagus (21%) and blueberries (19%) made the top five.

(Graphic: Debbie McShane)

But the Fresh Trends 2025 survey — fielded to more than 1,050 female (53%) and male (47%) consumers throughout the U.S., representing five generations and multiple income levels — also shows that consumers are feeling the effects of inflation and grocery prices that are on average 35% higher today than they were just five to six years ago.

What’s more, an overwhelming majority, or 9 out of 10 consumers, report they are seeing price increases in produce this year and are taking a variety of steps to manage costs.

Forty-seven percent of consumers surveyed said they are trying to afford price increases by cutting other areas of their budget rather than their grocery bill; 33% are buying cheaper alternatives; and 27% are simply buying less.
Two-thirds of shoppers said they try to buy items on sale, while 1 in 2 consider store brands to control their food budget.

(Graphic: Debbie McShane)

What produce purchases do consumers curtail most frequently due to cost?

Survey respondents indicated they were most likely to cut value-added produce, berries, organics and avocados from their grocery bill.
Additionally, 80% of shoppers indicate they have made a change in how they shop due to rising food costs, with 48% trying to eat at home more and 33% trying to buy less-expensive food.

And while the majority of consumers indicate they prefer to buy healthy, they do so when they can get a good deal — a trend that carries through all household income levels, with more than 50% of consumers with annual household incomes of $25,000 or more citing this caveat.

Similarly, most consumers said they would buy more fresh produce if price were not an issue. And older consumers would be especially interested in purchasing more locally grown produce if it were affordable.

(Graphic: Debbie McShane)

The rise in consumers taking GLP-1 medication may also be a driver of fresh produce sales, as Fresh Trends 2025 found that 84% of consumers taking GLP-1 medication indicate they have increased their produce consumption, with apples, bananas, tomatoes, avocados and grapes topping the list of what they buy.

And while health is the primary reason for eating more produce among all consumers, 87% of GLP-1 users cite health as a reason to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Where they buy

Conventional supermarkets still reign supreme in leading where consumers purchase their produce, but many are trying other channels, with nearly half shopping online; 44% buying from mass merchants like Target and Walmart; 32% picking up produce at specialty stores such as Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s; and 1 in 4 going to farmers markets, finds Fresh Trends 2025.

Parents are much more likely to shop online with 62% doing so compared to 31% of non-parents, finds Fresh Trends 2025. And the majority of millennials are shopping online, but all other generations said they are still shopping more in person than online.

For consumers who don’t shop online, a desire to touch and smell the produce in the supermarket was the top reason for 46% of shoppers.

But regardless of how they shop for produce, the top items going into baskets remain the same, said Jonna Parker, vice president of the fresh foods group for Circana.

“We know from our own e-commerce sales data, as well as meeting with various retailers and folks like Instacart, that the most popular fruits and vegetables in brick-and-mortar are the same most popular fruits and vegetables online,” said Parker. “And there is a direct correlation to how they’re merchandised.

“We’re not talking enough about digital merchandising and digital influence in produce,” continued Parker, who said thinking shoppers want to make a trip to three different physical stores to buy tomatoes is an outdated concept.

“We’ve gotten so mired in this trap of, ‘Gosh, doesn’t everyone want to go to the local grocer and buy this here and that there?’ Which, to be honest, is a very baby boomer, older Gen X way of shopping,” she said.

(Photo: pressmaster, Adobe Stock)

Driving demand

Fresh Trends 2025 found that while putting items on sale is the leading reason consumers will try new produce, millennials and Gen Z are also likely to try new produce because of what they have seen on social media.

Just how powerful is social media in driving produce trends? Parker points to the fourth quarter of 2023, when Circana noticed grape volumes were growing by double digits.

“Our internal teams came to us and said, ‘What’s going on with grapes?’ The theory was that it was all the new varieties coming to market,” said Parker. “And while I think new varieties of grapes and new packages brought eyes to the set, after running all the analysis, we found that 80% of the volume growth was just regular green conventional grapes.

“But new people were coming into the category because social media was showing them how they could roll grapes in Jell-O powder and freeze them for a sweet treat,” she continued. “There was so much excitement among young people, and that cascaded into a whole new usage occasion for grapes.”

More than a social media success story, the frozen grapes craze is an example of why the produce industry needs to think differently to drive sales, said Parker.

“We can’t do what we’ve always done and expect demand to increase,” she said. “The biggest thing is for suppliers to recognize that they can’t just rely on the retailer to generate demand anymore. Our job on the produce industry supply side — in any part of the supply chain — can’t only be about supply.
“We have to help generate demand in other facets of the consumer’s life,” she adds.

On the retailer side, Circana found that many retailers who didn’t enjoy the same growth in grapes that the national average did weren’t aware of the trend — a sign that suppliers need to keep retailers informed on trends, said Parker.

Since frozen grapes’ social media splash, some companies have jumped on the trend, launching frozen grapes as a ready-to-eat item.

“That’s the cycle I’d love to see broken in produce,” said Parker. “How do we think up front about what consumers want and then bring that to retail?”

Differentiation is key

To remain competitive, differentiation is key for retailers, said Parker, as “the choices in produce are pretty much the same across retail.”

“Retailers need to deliver that because produce is still the most frequently shopped department in the store, and it is why people choose which store or the other,” she said. “But because we’re offering a lot of the same categories and varieties, they’re choosing where to shop based on price and how clean the department is, not because of the 65 categories within produce.

“I think a lot of the retailers who are crushing it in produce, especially with younger shoppers, are making very choiceful decisions about what they are and are not carrying,” said Parker.

And when it comes to creating new usage occasions for produce, the industry would do well to take a page from the CPG playbook.

“There’s always been a chasm between what happens in center store and the produce aisle,” she said. “We don’t give people a lot of differentiating attributes in produce compared to CPG.”

Take energy drinks, for example.

“Energy drinks sales have gone through the roof at the same time the price points have risen at retail,” said Parker. “But why they’ve been able to sustain higher price points with this increased demand is there is now an energy drink for the morning, an energy drink for the afternoon and an energy drink for the evening — and there are different brands for each time.

“Imagine if that’s how we thought about produce? Imagine if we sold an apple that wasn’t just about taste, it was about the packaging, the location, the country of origin, whether it’s organic or not, whether it’s sustainably grown or not — all those attributes factor into apples, yet we don’t talk about them as much as we should.

“Energy drink companies succeeded because they tapped into a need, especially with younger consumers, to differentiate themselves,” she said.

(Photo: adisa, Adobe Stock)

LTOs create sense of urgency

Beyond CPG brands in center store, quick-service restaurants — the masters of limited-time offers — can be another source of inspiration for produce purveyors.

Parker was recently inspired by an LTO at an H Mart in downtown Los Angeles. The grocery chain specializing in Asian offerings had built a huge display of grapes in shipper boxes at the front of the store.

“They weren’t typical consumer packages of grapes, and they were $10 a pop, but they had a big sign that said, ‘These are just-picked, fresh and sweet Autumn Crisp grapes’ — and all of a sudden that is a different demand-generating play.

“They commanded the supply to build this limited-time-only action alley and were selling big boxes — large bunches of grapes — creating excitement for something in season right now,” Parker explained. “Shoppers felt the need — just like when you see a short-term coupon — to jump on those grapes while they’re hot.”

Parker said it’s a perfect example of how produce can move more volume at retail.

Meeting consumers where they are

As uncertainty increasingly becomes the norm, the needs of the produce consumer are changing. The produce suppliers and retailers who identify and meet these needs will have a competitive advantage.

“When you think about the last five years, there’s been major disruptions in the daily life of humans and at a faster pace than any of us could have previously imagined,” said Parker. “COVID, inflation, tariffs and the political unrest globally, AI — any one of those things would have been a decade-defining piece. We also have five generations as our buying audience right now, and those five generations have experienced humanity in such widely different ways.

“If you’re a retailer, a foodservice operator or a restaurant, you then have to look at all of that,” she continues. “The companies I see that are weathering these storms slightly better than others are the ones who recognize this is an unprecedented moment, so I can’t just do what I’ve always done.”

And in this era of big data and technology, retailers can tap into a road map of sorts about how to navigate change with a clear understanding of who their core shopper is and what and how much they’re buying on a store-by-store basis, said Parker.

“Data gives you the real answer about who your shopper is, and that’s important because the reality is that everyone buys produce, but we don’t all buy the same thing at the same stores in the same quantities, and the growth comes in filling those gaps,” said Parker. “If you have insights, like X percent of people buy this, but this percentage and this type of person buys it that much more, and they like to buy it at these stores — if you’re armed with that, you make different decisions about what your packaging looks like, which retailers you should be in and where you put that bigger display.”

An eye on growth

While produce was the only fresh department to increase its share of sales in 2024, according to Circana, there’s much room for growth.

“The average American only buys 1.9 produce items whenever they buy produce. And we could sit here and high five, because there certainly are departments that get one, however, we have 65 categories,” said Parker. “We have everything from breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack solutions in one department; no other department in the store offers the everyday consumer more versatility than produce.

“Are we happy with 1.9? Who is driving your produce dollars and which categories are they really into across the store? Who are they and how do I keep them happy? How you’re going to keep them happy is by understanding who they are and what their needs are,” Parker said.

Related: Get more insights by downloading the Fresh Trends 2025 report here.

Exclusive Fresh Trends 2025 presentation to debut at WCPE

Mon, 12 May 2025 21:52:47 GMT

While higher grocery prices remain a pain point for consumers, the majority still indicate they are eating more fresh produce than a year ago, with some also saying they’re willing to pay the price to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey finds.

For the first time, results of The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 survey — fielded to more than 1,050 female (53%) and male (47%) consumers from across the U.S., representing five generations and multiple income levels — will be revealed during an exclusive video presentation on May 30 at West Coast Produce Expo 2025 .

The Packer’s most comprehensive consumer report to date, Fresh Trends 2025 takes a deep dive into 50 fresh produce commodities, exploring the shopping habits and preferences of all five generations as well as the impact of inflation and higher grocery prices on the produce basket ring and more.

What produce purchases do consumers curtail most frequently due to cost and what are the generational differences when it comes to what shoppers want most and how much they’re willing to spend to get it?

Fresh Trends 2025 breaks it all down, offering insights including that despite being most sensitive to food inflation, younger generations — Gen Z and millennials — are much more likely to buy organic produce than older generations.

Younger generations are also willing to pay a higher price for organic, with 17% of Gen Z and 14% of millennials indicating they would be willing to pay 25% to 49% more for organic, compared to just 3% of Gen X and 7% of baby boomers.

“As a market researcher, I’m not surprised that younger generations are willing to pay more for organic produce,” Jonna Parker, vice president of the fresh foods group at Circana told The Packer. “Gen Z has grown up in a world that looks wholly different from the people 10, 20 or 30 years older than them and, ultimately, what’s important to them — is different.

“They have always lived in a world with personal variety and choice — from what music to listen to or what makeup or T-shirt to wear, and the infinite number of choices in just those three categories — and they’re then frustrated that they don’t have those kinds of choices in produce.

“Organic is a choice. It’s a label. And while it does have meaning, the average American consumer doesn’t understand the science behind it,” she continued. “So, for better or for worse, ‘organic’ has become a descriptive word to younger consumers — a choice — like ‘artisan’ or ‘specialty.’”

Locally grown is another choice shoppers have in the produce department and while 2 in 3 consumers say they feel strongly about buying locally grown produce, millennials and Gen Z also lead the way in this category, with 47% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z saying they’re buying more locally grown produce than last year.

For more Fresh Trends 2025, join us at West Coast Produce Expo, May 28-30, at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, Calif.

Register for West Coast Produce Expo here .

How buying local factors into consumer purchasing decisions

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:03:08 GMT

Buying local matters for many consumers.

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2024 survey asked 1,100 consumers several questions about their purchases of locally grown food. Asked whether they make a “conscious effort” to buy locally or regionally grown produce, 55% of respondents said they did.

According to the survey results, the consumers most likely to make an effort to buy local include those with higher household incomes, families with dependent children, and shoppers in their 30s and 40s.

The Fresh Trends survey results found that households with dependent children (66%) are much more likely than those without kids (48%) to make an effort to buy local produce.

The level of income is a big factor, with 60% of those households earning more than $100,000 annually indicating they try to buy local, compared with 41% of consumers making less than $25,000 a year who said the same.

Younger consumers are much more likely to say they make an effort to buy local. Sixty-three percent of those aged 30-39 say they make a conscious effort to buy local, compared with 49% for consumers over 60, according to the survey.

Fresh Trends 2024 also asked consumers to respond to the prompt: “Knowing the stories and background of the produce growers who supply my grocery store is …”

Thirty-four percent of all consumers said knowing the stories and background of produce growers was “very important,” with 43% rating the issue as “somewhat important” and 23% indicating the topic was “not important at all.”

Forty-six percent of households with dependent children said knowing the stories of growers was “very important,” much higher than those households without kids (26%) who had the same response.

Younger consumers also expressed greater interest in knowing the stories of growers, as evidenced by each age group rating the issue “very important.” Forty-five percent of 18-29-year-old consumers said knowing the stories of growers was very important, compared with just 18% who said that among consumers aged 60 or older.

The percentage of each age demographic who indicated knowing the stories and background of produce growers is “very important” is:

• 18-29: 45%.
• 30-39: 44%.
• 40-49: 41%.
• 50-59: 24%.
• 60 and over: 18%.

At 41%, consumers in the South indicated they placed greater importance on the issue than any other region, followed by consumers in the Northeast (35%), Midwest (34%) and West (24%).

Generally, survey respondents who indicated greater importance of knowing grower stories aligned with the groups most likely to make an effort to buy local produce.

The Fresh Trends survey also asked consumers whether they were buying more local produce compared with a year ago. Overall responses showed that 34% of consumers said they were buying more, 11% said they were buying less and 54% said they were buying the same amount.

The survey results showed higher-income groups are more likely to be buying more local produce, with 37% of those making $100,000 or more annually indicating they are buying more local produce. Lower-income groups are more likely to be decreasing their local produce purchases, the survey indicated.

The survey found that families with dependent children are much more likely to be buying more local produce, with 50% of households with two children saying they are buying more compared with a year ago, compared with 27% of households with no kids who said they are buying more.

Younger age groups are more likely to be buying more local produce, with 45% of consumers aged 30-39 and 43% of those aged said they are buying more. Only 21% of consumers aged 60 or older said they were buying more local produce, while 73% of that group said they were buying the same amount.

The Fresh Trends 2024 survey also asked, “If price were not an issue, which of the following items would you purchase?” The options and overall results were:

• Fresh fruits: 76%.
• Fresh vegetables: 75%.
• Organic Produce: 52%.
• Locally grown produce: 52%.
• Frozen Fruits: 32%.
• Frozen vegetables: 36%.
• Canned Fruit: 24%.
• Canned vegetables: 26%.

According to the survey, higher income groups (earning $100,000 or more annually) show a stronger preference for increased purchases of both organic (59%) and locally grown (59%) produce if price were not an obstacle.

Fifty-four percent of consumers with dependent children said they would buy more organic produce if money were no obstacle, and 54% of that group said they would buy more locally grown produce if price were no issue.

Consumers in the Fresh Trends 2024 survey indicated support for local growers and businesses. When survey participants were asked, “When you buy groceries, do you feel strongly about keeping your food dollars in your city or community?” Fresh Trends 2024 found that 63% said “yes.” The survey found that 71% of households with dependent children feel strongly about the issue, compared to 57% of households without kids who said the same.

More consumers report carrot purchases, Fresh Trends survey shows

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:50:46 GMT

Editor’s note: The following report is from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2024 , which provides insight based on survey responses from consumers. Since 1983, The Packer has sponsored 41 major consumer studies to track trends in the purchases and consumption of fresh produce, documenting the fluctuation in purchases of specific fruits and vegetables as well as changing attitudes toward industry issues.

More consumers surveyed in The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2024 reported purchasing carrots in the past 12 months, at 60.9%, compared to 50% in the 2023 survey and 51% in 2022.

Retail per capita availability of carrots decreased from 8.93 pounds in 2000 to 7.48 pounds in 2020.

Almost 68% of consumers surveyed in Fresh Trends 2024 said they are buying a larger variety of fresh produce today than they were 20 years ago. When asked which produce items they purchase now that they previously did not buy, 15% included carrots in their response.

A greater percentage of higher-income consumers reported fresh carrot purchases, with 71.6% for consumers making more than $100,000 annually compared to 42.5% of consumers making less than $25,000 a year.

Older age groups tend to be more frequent buyers of carrots, with 70.7% of those aged 60 and older and 66.7% of those aged 50-59 reporting purchases, compared with 46.9% of those aged 18-29.

Fresh Trends 2024 data found more shoppers in the Northeast reported carrot purchases at 65%, while 54.5% of shoppers in the South did so.

Circana retail data shows that retail fresh carrots sales for the 52-week period ending Jan. 28, 2024, were $1.4 billion, an increase of 4.8% compared to the previous year. Volume sales were rated at 980 million, up 0.4% compared with the previous year.

The price per pound for fresh carrots was $1.45 for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 28, up 4.4% compared with the previous year.

The scan data shows that fresh carrots sales increased compared to the previous year, both in terms of dollar sales and volume sales, for the total category. Conventional dollar sales increased while volume sales decreased, and organic dollar sales and volume sales increased.

Average shipping-point price for carrots during 2023 was $21.40 per carton, up from $20.08 per carton in 2022.

Fresh Trends 2024 data for cabbage

Reported purchase based on household income*

Less than $25K — 43%
$25K<$50K — 58%
$50K<$100K — 62%
$100K+ — 72%

*Annual household income

Reported purchase based on dependent children

Have kids — 58%
1 kid — 52%
2 kids — 62%
3 or more kids — 66%
No kids — 63%

Reported purchase based on region

Midwest — 64%
Northeast — 65%
South — 54%
West — 64%

Reported purchase based on age*

18-29 — 47%
30-39 — 59%
40-49 — 63%
50-59 — 67%
60+ — 71%

*Considering primary household buyers

Reported purchase based on ethnicity

Asian — 59%
Black/African American — 45%
Hispanic — 60%
Other — 41%
White/Caucasian — 66%

Survey: Nearly 1 in 5 consumers report purchasing organic spinach exclusively

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 19:00:19 GMT

Editor’s note: The following report is from The Packer’s Organic Fresh Trends 2024 , which provides insight based on survey responses from consumers. Since 1983, The Packer has sponsored major consumer studies to track trends in the purchases and consumption of fresh produce, documenting the fluctuation in purchases of specific fruits and vegetables as well as changing attitudes toward industry issues.

Organic spinach is an essential ingredient in a successful modern produce department.

Numbers from the retail data firm Circana show that organic spinach sales in 2022 totaled a whopping $522.6 million, down less than 1% from 2021.

Total volume of organic spinach sold in 2022 topped 71 million pounds, about 7% less than 2021.

The average price for organic spinach in 2022 was $7.34, up 7.1% from 2021.

Circana data reveals that organic spinach sales accounted for 50% of total spinach retail sales and 7% of total organic produce sales.

The Packer’s Organic Fresh Trends 2024 survey shows that 17% of consumers said they shopped exclusively for organic spinach, and 42% said they purchased organic spinach at least sometimes.

More info from Organic Fresh Trends 2024

Organic retail sales – Spinach 2022

Pounds sold: 71.2 million
Average retail price per pound: $7.34
Retail sales: $522.6 million
Percent of total organic produce sales: 7%
Organic percent of retail spinach sales: 50%
Change in sales from last year: -0.7%

Source: Circana

Organic purchasing patterns of spinach

Organic only: 17%
Organic at least some of the time: 42%*

*Includes consumers who purchase only organic and those who purchase a combination of both organic and conventional product.

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by household income*

$100K+: 21%
$50k<$100k: 12%
$25k<$50k: 19%
Less than $25k: 10%

*Figures based on annual household income

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by presence of children at home

1 kids: 19%
2 kids: 21%
3+ kids: 16%
No kids: 15%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by region

Midwest: 17%
Northeast: 13%
South:21%
West: 16%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by age*

18-29 years: 33%
30-39 years: 17%
40-49 years: 18%
50-59 years: 14%
60+ years: 4%

*Considering primary household buyers

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by ethnicity

Asian: 14%
Black/African America: 24%
Hispanic: 31%
Other: 18%
White/Caucasian:13%

Here's how organic tomato purchases are trending, according to a consumer survey

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 19:00:48 GMT

Organic retail tomato sales took a small step back in 2022, but the commodity still is a top performer in the produce department.

Circana reports organic tomato retail sales of $267.3 million in 2022, down 1.5% from 2021.

Retail organic volume in 2022 was 67.8 million pounds, down 3.2% from 2021.

In 2022, organic tomatoes accounted for 3.4% of total organic sales and 6.7% of total retail tomato sales.

The Packer’s Organic Fresh Trends 2024 shows that 15% of consumers said they purchased organic tomatoes exclusively, up from 14% in the 2023 survey and from 13% from the 2022 survey.

Thirty-seven percent of consumers in the Organic Fresh Trends 2024 survey said they buy organic fresh tomatoes at least some of the time, up from 34% in the 2023 survey and 32% in the 2022 survey.

Higher-income consumers were more frequent purchasers of organic tomatoes exclusively, as Organic Fresh Trends 2024 shows 17% of consumers with income over $100,000 annually exclusively purchased organic tomatoes, compared with 13% for households making less than $25,000 a year.

The Organic Fresh Trends survey shows that younger consumers are the most likely to buy organic tomatoes exclusively. Thirty percent of consumers aged 18-29 said they purchased organic tomatoes exclusively, compared with just 2% of consumers 60 or older indicating exclusive organic tomato purchases.

More info from Organic Fresh Trends 2024

Organic retail sales — Tomatoes 2022

Pounds sold: 67.8 million
Average retail price per pound: $3.94
Retail sales: $267.3 million
Percent of total organic produce sales: 3.4%
Organic percent of retail tomato sales: 6.7%
Change in sales from last year: -1.5%

Source: Circana

Organic purchasing patterns of tomatoes

Organic only: 15%
Organic at least some of the time: 37%*

*Includes consumers who purchase only organic and those who purchase a combination of both organic and conventional produce.

Reported ORGANIC ONLY by household income*

$100k+:17.1%
$50k<$100k: 15%
$25k<$50k: 13%
Less than $25k: 13%

*Figures based on annual household income

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by presence of children at home

1 kid: 26%
2 kids: 21%
3 or more kids: 19%
No kids: 10%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by region

Midwest: 11%
Northeast: 19%
South: 17%
West: 12%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by age*

18-29: 30%
30-39: 20%
40-49: 19%
50-59: 11%
60+: 2%

*Considering primary household buyers

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by ethnicity

Asian: 18%
Black/African America: 22%
Hispanic: 14%
Other: 19%
White/Caucasian: 14%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by gender

Women: 15%
Men: 15%