These consumers are more likely to avoid produce in plastic packaging

Is plastic packaging a big deal for consumers?

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2024 asked more than 1,100 consumers whether they consciously avoid buying produce in plastic packaging. Results of the survey showed that 44% indicated they try to avoid buying produce in plastic packaging, while 56% said they do not.

The starkest differences in consumer responses to the question were found in the age demographic, with younger consumers far more likely to avoid buying produce in plastic packaging.

Sixty percent of consumers aged 18-29 polled for Fresh Trends 2024 said they avoided buying produce in plastic packaging, compared with 51% for consumers aged 30-39, 47% for those aged 40-49, 29% for those 50-60 years old and 32% for those aged 60 or older.

By income demographic, the greatest number of consumers polled who said they avoided plastic packaging were in the highest household income group, where 45% of those making $100,000 or more annually gave that answer.

Still, the range was narrow between income demographics, with 43% of those making less than $25,000 a year, 44% of those making $25,000 to $50,000 a year and 44% of those making $50,000 to $100,000 annually saying they avoid buying produce in plastic packaging.

The survey showed 45% of women and 44% of men reporting they avoided buying produce in plastic packaging.

Consumers with children at home were much more likely to avoid purchasing produce in plastic packaging. Fresh Trends 2024 found that 54% of consumers with kids avoided buying produce in plastic packaging, compared with 37% of those with no kids who gave that response.

Consumers in the West (37%) were the least likely to avoid buying produce in plastic packaging, survey results showed, compared with 47% of consumers in the South, 45% in the Northeast and 44% in the Midwest who gave that response.

At 41%, white/Caucasian consumers were least likely to avoid buying produce in plastic packaging, compared with consumers with other ethnic backgrounds, with 51% of Asian shoppers, 50% of Black/African American consumers and 48% of Hispanic shoppers reporting they avoid buying produce in plastic packaging.