2021 sweet potato trends reveal these changes

Sweet potatoes were already doing well lately, and after a crazy 2020, consumers want them even more, according to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2021 consumer survey.

The report revealed an upward trend quickening its pace but also some shifts:

• About a third of consumers, or 34%, have opted for sweet potatoes within the past year, up from about a quarter, or 26%, the previous year;
• Older shoppers gravitate toward this orange vegetable; shoppers age 60 and older were the most likely overall to buy this tuberous root rich in vitamins A and C;
• Families without children at home were more likely to buy the vegetable than those with kids, and the more kids at home, the less likely the family was to make a sweet potato purchase;
• For the third consecutive year, the likelihood of a purchase increased according to income and age; shoppers earning more than $100,000 annually were more than twice as likely to buy sweet potatoes than those in the lowest income bracket;

• Asian shoppers were more likely to buy sweet potatoes than those from other ethnic or racial backgrounds, while Caucasian consumers — who were most likely to buy last year — were least likely to buy;
• While the majority of consumers bought conventionally grown sweet potatoes, one-quarter of buyers said they selected organic product at least some of the time; and
• Shoppers ages 18-29 were the most likely overall to make a periodic organic purchase (half of all shoppers in this age range said so), followed by African American shoppers and those with two kids living at home.