Can you guess the growth rate of veggie noodles?
What about cauliflower rice?
While growth rates tend to be exponential when a category is young, it's hard to dismiss the pace of these two value-added rock stars.
According to the latest FreshFacts on Retail report by the United Fresh Produce Association, sales dollars of vegetable “noodles” grew 409% in the third quarter of 2017 compared to Q3 of 2016.
Riced cauliflower also is a standout, with consumers spending 113% more this year than the previous year.
United Fresh also broke out the numbers based on branding, and found that brands were far more prominent in the cauliflower category.
Two thirds of dollar shares were branded in cauliflower rice, compared to the opposite in vegetable noodles. Retail private labels and unbranded product made up 68% of vegetable noodles, compared to 33% in cauliflower.
Value-added vegetables in general are outpacing growth in most produce categories, and they've got a lot of room for growth. According to the report, only 47% of households are buying value-added vegetables, which grew 7% in dollars and nearly 4% in volume in Q3.
Well-developed packaged salads are enjoying continued growth, too, however, thanks to innovation in the category. While 77% of households buy packaged salads, the category still saw 5% growth in both volume and dollars in Q3, and complete salads/ kits are now the No. 1 type of packaged salad in dollar share.
These figures are part of Untied Fresh's quarterly reports, published with support from Del Monte Fresh Produce and sales data provided by Nielsen Fresh. The full report is available free of charge to members, and for $50 for non-members.