FreshFacts on Retail - 2016 in Review

United Fresh 2016 Year in Review Highlights

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[/col] [col-6] United Fresh Produce Association recently released their FreshFacts on Retail: Whole and Fresh Cut Produce Trends 2016 report, with some interesting highlights I will share with you:

The Produce Department:
  • Berries and packaged salads continue to dominate respective fruit and vegetable sales, as well as anchor department dollar and volume growth.
  • Organic produce continues its rapid double-digit growth and now accounts for 9% of all produce dollars; however, many categories are still under-developed with organic accounting for less than 5% of commodity sales.
  • Households are rapidly adopting new methods of obtaining their groceries. As infrastructure continues to develop, e-commerce could revolutionize the grocery shopping experience. Identifying strategies now will keep retailers ahead of the game.
  • One quarter of all households have purchased a meal kit. These pre-portioned items are ideal for smaller households and provide added convenience.
  • Shoppers spend more money in the store when produce is included in the transaction—$62 average basket size with produce as opposed to $34 with an assortment of other items.

Value-Added Fruits & Vegetables:
  • In 2016, Value-Added Fruits represented 4.8% of total produce department sales.
  • In 2016, Value-Added Vegetables represented 3.7% of total produce department sales.
  • In fruits, Value-Added variety berries and mixed fruit dominate sales as they offer diversity for smaller households.
  • Many commodities with flat or declining sales such as carrots and mushrooms experienced Value-Added growth in 2016, reflecting the consumers’ desire for convenient options.

Organics:
  • Although organic sales account for just 9% of all fresh produce dollars, they accounted for 30% of all produce growth in 2016.
  • Organic shoppers make eight more trips to the grocery store annually than non-organic produce shoppers.
  • Organic packaged salads represent 23% of all packaged salad dollars.
  • Organic berries account for 11% of all berry sales.
  • Organic produce sales reached $4.46 billion in 2016, a growth of 13.2%

Meal Kits:
  • The top reasons consumers purchase meal kits (listed in order): Saves time on meal planning, short prep and cook time, saves shopping time, enables shopper to try new recipes, recipes are healthy.
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