Less common produce is more likely to be purchased organic
Sprouts were the No. 1 vegetable that shoppers selected as organic, and kale is the No. 1 vegetable that shoppers buy organic periodically, according to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2021 report.
Asian pears are the No. 1 fruit that shoppers bought as organic periodically, and papayas are the No. 1 item that shoppers bought as exclusively organic.
Radishes, pomegranates, kiwifruit, kale, grapefruit, cranberries and blueberries are also purchased organic rather than conventional more than other fresh produce, according to Fresh Trends.
Traverse City, Mich.-based North Bay Produce carries a lot of organic blueberries, said Ryan Lockman, vice president of sales and procurement. “Organic blueberry demand has increased over the past few years due to increased volumes industrywide, but more importantly, increased volumes in areas that are conducive to organic growing methods,” Lockman said. “In turn, this has caused the organic product to be more competitive cost-wise with that of conventional offerings.”
At Santa Maria, Calif.-based Gold Coast, the organics program is smaller than those of other companies, but leaders realize that needs to change, said Crystal Chavez, marketing director. “This year, we have made a commitment to expand our organic offerings as the demand continues to grow. We have had several requests from our customers, and with the growth at the retail level, we have chosen to expand our organic offerings,” Chavez said.
For sprouts, 24% of buyers said they always chose organic sprouts—up from 22% who said so last year. Not only that, but sprouts were the No. 2 vegetable that shoppers chose as organic at least some of the time, of those studied in Fresh Trends 2021. Nearly half of all buyers (45%) said they periodically chose the organic version of this salad vegetable. Asian consumers and African American shoppers were the top groups overall to buy organic sprouts. Of those who choose Asian pears this year, more than half of buyers (55%) said they selected organic product at least some of the time (47% said so last year). One-quarter of buyers said they always chose organic Asian pears.
Cantaloupe is the fruit least likely to be purchased organic, and potatoes are the least likely vegetable to be bought organic, the report revealed. For cantaloupe, 23% of buyers said they chose organic cantaloupe at least some of the time.
Some of the most popular fruit for American shoppers — bananas and apples — are not purchased organic as frequently as less-common fruit. About 30% of shoppers buy organic bananas at least some of the time, and 27% for apples.
Read the full 2021 Organic Fresh Trends report here.
Of those who bought kiwifruit, more than one-fifth (21%) said they always chose organic fruit, making kiwi the No. 3 item that shoppers bought as exclusively organic. Forty percent of buyers said they selected organic kiwi at least some of the time, up from 34% who said so last year.
Of those who seek out papayas, 46% choose organic at least some of the time—making the fruit the No. 2 item that shoppers buy periodically as organic. Papayas were also the No. 1 item that shoppers bought as exclusively organic.
Shoppers ages 18-29 were the most likely group to always choose organic, followed by those in the top income bracket and those with two children living at home. Fresh Trends showed that shoppers are pretty evenly split when it comes to organic pomegranate purchases. Fifty-two percent of shoppers said they always bought conventionally grown pomegranates, while 43% said they bought organic fruit at least some of the time. One in five said they always selected organic product.
Those who buy kale love to choose the organic version. Nearly half of all kale buyers (48%) said they selected organic product at least some of the time.
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