The likelihood of a whole lettuce purchase fell six percentage points from Fresh Trends 2017. Topping a burger with lettuce or adding shreds to tacos or some other recipe was a mainstay for more than a third of shoppers - 36% said they used lettuce as an ingredient. But the overwhelming majority, 86% used lettuce in the traditional way, as a salad.
Consumer preferences for lettuce variety remained constant, with romaine being the most popular choice followed by iceberg and more distantly by leaf lettuce.
Consumers in the highest income bracket were the most likely to buy overall, with two-thirds of these shoppers saying they bought lettuce in the past year.
Middle age- shoppers were more likely to grab bulk lettuce than those younger than age 40 of those 59 and older.
