The shopper’s eye is on price and promotions in combination with ripeness and appearance.

While price dominates the purchase decision and promotions wield great influence over what, how much, what brands and where consumers buy, quality matters.

Together with price, ripeness and appearance drive the more pre-planned purchase decisions in today’s marketplace.

Convenience and sustainability matter, but are subject to financial pressure in today’s marketplace.

Multi-year growth drivers value-added and organic fresh produce underperformed in 2023. Price is the biggest purchase barrier for both.

Claims with a broader, cross-population appeal continued to enjoy strong interest, including local, seasonal and grown in the USA.

Value-forward formats gained in share and sales. More consumers purchased fresh produce at mass/supercenters, elevating their share of dollars from 17.4% in 2020 to 20.1% in 2023.

Traditional supermarkets and health/organic specialty stores have been losing share since 2020. Produce ecommerce was an area of growth for several years but lost ground in 2023.

Food waste’s financial impact may reduce produce purchases. Six in 10 Americans indicate fresh produce waste at home is an issue that they cannot financially afford. Consumers recognize the issue of package waste, but emphasize package functionality.

Willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly packaging is subdued. They value tips on improving shelf life, storage and freezing produce.

This article is an excerpt from the September 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Produce Power feature and more in the digital edition here.