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.
The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023 survey finds grapes remain a popular fruit among American consumers.
Fifty-two percent of consumers said they purchased fresh grapes in the past year. That is slightly down from 55% indicating fresh grape purchases in both Fresh Trends 2022 and Fresh Trends 2021.
By income levels, 53% of shoppers making more than $100,000 per year said they purchased grapes in the past year, compared with 54% in Fresh Trends 2022 and 61% in Fresh Trends 2021.
Meanwhile, 51% of consumers making less than $25,000 a year indicated fresh grape purchases in Fresh Trends 2023, compared with 52% in Fresh Trends 2022 and 48% in Fresh Trends 2021. For Fresh Trends 2023, consumers with no kids at home reported higher levels of grape purchases (53%) compared with shoppers with kids at home (48%).
Consumers in the Midwest reported the highest level of fresh grape consumption (57%), compared with 48% for the West, 53% for the South and 52% for the Northeast.
Older consumers reported the highest level of grape purchases in Fresh Trends 2023. Sixty-five percent of consumers aged 60 and older reported fresh grape purchases, compared with 60% for those aged 50-59, 50% of those from aged 40-49, 41% for those aged 30-39 and 44% of those aged 18-29.
Fifty-five percent of white/Caucasian consumers reported fresh grape purchases in Fresh Trends 2023, as did 48% of Black/African American shoppers, 47% of Hispanic buyers and 45% of Asian consumers.
When asked the question, “Which of the following varieties of grapes do you prefer to purchase?” Fresh Trends 2023 respondents who purchased grapes said:
- Seedless — green/white: 65%.
- Seedless — red: 60%.
- Seedless — blue/black: 31%.
- With seeds — green/white: 13%.
- With seeds — red: 14%.
- With seeds — blue/black: 8%.
- No preference: 8%.
The average fob price for fresh grapes in 2022 was $23.42 per carton, up from $22.79 per carton in 2021. The retail average promoted price for 2022 was $1.34, compared with $1.25 in 2021.
The weekly average number of stores promoting grapes in 2022 was 41,586, down slightly from the 2022 average of 42,313 stores.
Retail per capita availability of fresh grapes has increased modestly in the last decade, rising from 7.3 pounds in 2010 to 7.7 pounds in 2019, according to the USDA.
