According to Progressive Grocer’s 2011 Consumer Expenditures Study, prepared fruits and vegetables are poised to be the success stories of the produce department this year. The report noted that despite their higher price points, the value-added categories are steadily gaining household penetration and purchase trip frequency.

All prepared fruit and vegetable categories grew both dollar and volume sales at supermarkets during the past year. The growth of value-added fresh-cut produce was led by a 17.1 percent increase in dollar sales of overwrap fruit and a 9.6 percent increase in dollar sales of pre-cut vegetables for meals, snacks, and side dishes.

This study’s findings line up with what we found in our recent packaging study, where 66 percent of Internet survey respondents told us they purchase packaged pre-cut produce. It also provides a sign that consumers may be faring slightly better financially because in PMA’s 2010 consumer study, shoppers told us they had cut back on fresh-cut purchases to save money due to economic anxiety.

To learn more about PMA’s Consumer Attitudes Toward Packaged Fruits and Vegetables study or any other of our reports, visit the Consumer Research Center on the PMA website.

Tags: Economy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 10:00 am and is filed under Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.