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.
The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023 showed a slight decline in the percentage of people who said they purchased nectarines in the past year. Eighteen percent of all consumers polled said they bought nectarines, compared with 21% in Fresh Trends 2022 and 23% in Fresh Trends 2021.
USDA statistics indicate that nectarine prices were up in 2022. The average fob price for nectarines in 2022 was $22.98 per carton, rising 27% from $18.14 in 2021.
The average retail advertised price for nectarines was $1.40 per unit in 2022, up 17% from $1.20 per unit in 2021.
The number of retail grocery stores that promoted nectarines in 2022 totaled 535,844 in 2022, up 4% from 517,526 in 2021, according to the USDA.
Higher income is associated with higher nectarine consumption, according to Fresh Trend 2023. For consumers earning more than $100,000 a year, 24% reported nectarine purchases; that compares with 14% for consumers earning less than $25,000 annually.
Consumers in the West were more likely to purchase nectarines compared to other regions, according to Fresh Trends 2023. Twenty-three percent of consumers in the West said they purchased nectarines, compared with 18% in the Midwest, 18% in the South and 15% in the East.
Older consumers were generally more frequent purchasers of nectarines, according to Fresh Trends 2023. The top age bracket for nectarine purchases by age was 40-49 (24%), followed by 60 and older (21%), 50-59 (19%), 30-39 (16%) and 18-29 (12%).