In an era dominated by high grocery inflation and digital convenience, physical retailers are finding that their best defense against e-commerce could be the visual allure of the fresh produce aisle.
According to the newly released Logile 2026 State of Fresh Grocery Shopping Report, 91% of U.S. consumers say fresh departments strongly influence their overall trust in a grocery store, with produce execution serving as the clearest signal of store quality.
Furthermore, the data challenges the long-held retail assumption that low prices always win. When convenience is equal, 46% of shoppers will choose a store with a superior fresh department over the 40% who choose a store with lower prices.
For the fresh produce industry, these metrics represent a paradigm shift in how retail executives value the perimeter of the store.
Beyond the Margin: Fresh as a Traffic Driver
Historically, grocery executives have viewed the highly volatile, perishable produce department primarily through a narrow financial lens.
“When we talk to retailers, we hear them talking about fresh as a margin driver,” says Vivek Gopalpuria, vice president of product marketing for Logile. “What we are seeing is increasingly fresh is becoming much more than a category that generates margin; it’s becoming an important driver of customer loyalty like store preference and overall perception of the brand.”
Gopalpuria points out that as center-store grocery purchases become increasingly digitized, excellent produce acts as a physical anchor for brick-and-mortar storefronts. The report confirms this, revealing that 74% of consumers continue to shop for groceries in person specifically to evaluate fresh food departments.
“Fresh creates a unique connection between the customer and the store that is kind of missing in today’s world, where it’s all about Instacarting,” Gopalpuria explains. “No longer is it just a margin opportunity; it’s a traffic driver, loyalty driver and increasingly used as a competitive differentiator.”
The Produce ‘Halo Effect’ and High-Stakes Merchandising
Appearances matter, according to the report, with Logile’s research revealing that 85% of shoppers say produce appearance directly dictates their purchasing decisions and 84% say a poorly maintained section actively damages their perception of the entire store brand.
Conversely, a stunning produce presentation creates what Gopalpuria calls a halo effect across the entire retail floor.
“Customers come in with the confidence that they’ll get the best fresh, but then as they are looking to spend time, they actually go and buy other things,” Gopalpuria says. “So, it’s actually increasing the basket size, it’s increasing the time they are spending, it’s increasing the sales and it’s bringing them back.”
Managing Volatility on the Racks
Despite the clear benefits, execution is becoming harder to achieve. The report notes that consumers are making fast, sensory-based judgments, and “sold-out fresh items” remain a primary point of friction that drives 78% of shoppers to actively switch to competing stores.
For produce managers, the operational environment has never been more intense. Balancing perishable stock levels to prevent shrink while avoiding empty shelves requires highly sophisticated store execution.
“If you look at retail, so much has changed in the last couple of years,” Gopalpuria says, adding that many retailers feel the last two years have packed in two decades’ worth of volatile change.
To combat this, leading grocers are shifting away from traditional guesswork ordering and rigid staffing, instead linking their backroom operations directly to real-time consumer data.
“We are bringing all this together ... and tying it back to that customer demand signal,” Gopalpuria says of Logile’s connected store operations. “Really helping retailers understand the customer demand, understand what they need, when they’ll be at the store ... and have the right people, the right product on the shelves at that point in time.”
The survey shows that to secure customer loyalty, look to the produce racks first.
