When asked what the word “sustainability” means to them, consumers and retailers responding to The Packer’s Sustainability Insights 2025 survey ranked environmental impacts at the top. Growers, however, most often cited the economic and long-term viability of an operation.
This should come as no surprise to those in the fresh produce industry, as labor and production costs continue to increase for growers, with no sign of stopping. But this also illustrates a stark divide between fork and farm as only 9% of consumers and retailers, on the other hand, see sustainability as being related to long-term viability.
Consumers also have a broad application of what sustainability means, indicating it relates to quality, seasonal and local produce, availability and access, and energy use.
For growers, economic viability means much more than staying in business. Sustainability Insights 2025 results show 62% of growers see implementing sustainable farming practices as being a better steward of the land, which reflects growers’ view of sustainability as tying into the long-term viability of the industry. Along the same lines, 43% of growers also think implementing sustainable farming practices is “the responsible thing to do.”
While 14% of consumers and 11% of retailers also see sustainability as relating to the freshness and shelf life of produce, only 3% of growers see sustainability in that way. For consumers, though, freshness and shelf life was the second-most important factor associated with sustainability, following environmental impacts, and it was the third-most important factor for retailers.
Surveyed growers placed little importance on how health and nutrition relate to sustainability (1%). Meanwhile, consumers surveyed saw health and nutrition as the fourth highest in importance (9%).
Retailers ranked waste reduction and packaging as the second-highest priority (13%) among the 12 categories in the survey, but in contrast, only 2% of consumers see waste reduction or packaging as being a part of sustainability. This likely reflects the push for more sustainable packaging, however based on the response from consumers in the survey, it’s as high of importance perhaps expected.
Consumers placed higher importance on sustainability’s relationship to chemical-free or organic production (9%) than retailers (5%) and growers (7%). Growers also didn’t place high value on quality as relating to sustainability (4%), compared to 11% of retailers and 7% of consumers.
