Fresh Trends 2023: A look at lemons

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.

Lemons are a popular citrus fruit, and consumption has been increasing in recent years, according to USDA statistics.

Retail per capita availability increased from 3.3 pounds in 2011 to 4.7 pounds in 2019, according to the USDA.

Fresh Trends 2023 showed 39% of consumers indicated fresh lemon purchases, down from 41% in Fresh Trends 2022 and 43% in the 2021 consumer survey.

Higher-income consumers were frequent purchasers of lemons, Fresh Trends 2023 revealed, with 47% of those earning more than $100,000 a year indicating lemon purchases, substantially higher than the 31% for those earning less than $25,000 annually.

The USDA reported the average fob price for fresh lemons was $25.16 per carton in 2022, down 19% from $31.81 per carton in 2021.

The 2022 average advertised retail price for lemons was $1.01 per unit, up slightly from 99 cents per unit in 2021. The number of stores promoting lemons in 2022 totaled 383,200 in 2022, up 8% from 353,908 in 2021.

Consumers in the West were the most frequent purchasers of lemons, according to Fresh Trends 2023, with 44% of Western consumers indicating lemon purchases, compared with 34% of consumers in the Midwest, 41% in the South and 38% in the Northeast.