Editor’s Note: The following report is from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023, which provides insight based on survey responses from consumers. Since 1983, The Packer has sponsored 40 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.
While melon varieties are many and expanding, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023 survey focused on cantaloupe and honeydew.
Twenty-eight percent of consumers polled in Fresh Trends 2023 said they purchased cantaloupes in the past year, down slightly from 33% of shoppers who indicated cantaloupe purchases in the 2022 and 2021 Fresh Trends surveys.
Cantaloupe resonated with older consumers, Fresh Trends data shows, with 43% of those consumers aged 60 or older indicating purchases, compared with just 15% for those in the 18-29 age group.
Higher-income consumers are more likely to purchase cantaloupe, according to Fresh Trends 2023, with 34% of those earning more than $100,000 indicating cantaloupe purchases, compared with 24% of those making under $25,000 annually.
Consumers in the West had a higher cantaloupe purchase rate than any other region, with 31% indicating purchases in the past year, compared with 30% for the Midwest, 28% for the South and 22% for the Northeast.
Consumption of cantaloupe has dipped slightly in the past decade, with the USDA indicating that per capita retail availability of cantaloupe dropped from 8 pounds in 2011 to 5.6 pounds in 2019.
The average fob price for cantaloupe in 2022 was $28.24 per carton, up 17% from $24.23 per carton in 2021, according to the USDA.
The average promoted retail price for cantaloupe in 2022 was $1.20 per unit, up 11% from $1.08 in 2021. The USDA said the number of retail stores promoting cantaloupe in 2022 totaled 423,826, down 4% from 439,856 in 2021.
The USDA reports that honeydew per capita availability has been steady to slightly lower in the past decade, dropping from 1.5 pounds in 2011 to 1.3 pounds in 2019.
The average fob price for honeydew melon in 2022 was $12.91 per carton, 8% higher than $11.97 per carton in 2021.
The USDA reported the average advertised price for honeydew melon in 2022 was $1.44 per unit, up 19% from $1.21 per unit in 2021.
Fresh Trends 2023 found that 16% of all consumers purchased honeydew melon in the past year, down from 19% in Fresh Trends 2022 and down from 17% in Fresh Trends 2021.
Higher-income consumers indicated greater frequency of honeydew melon purchases, according to survey data. Twenty-three percent of consumers earning more than $100,000 a year reported honeydew purchases, compared with 10% for shoppers earning less than $25,000 annually.
Older consumers also were more frequent purchasers of honeydew melon, with Fresh Trends 2023 revealing that 18% of consumers aged 60 and older reported honeydew purchases, compared with only 10% of those from 18-29 years old.
