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.
Kiwifruit isn’t for everyone, but 18% of consumers polled by The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023 survey said they purchased kiwifruit in the past year.
That is nearly the same as 19% of consumers who indicated kiwifruit purchases in both the 2022 and 2021 surveys.
Retail per capita availability of kiwifruit has increased modestly in recent years from 0.4 pounds in 2013 to about 0.6 pounds in 2019, according to the USDA.
The USDA said the average annual fob price for kiwifruit was $23.92 per carton in 2022, down slightly from $24.30 per carton in 2021.
Demographic variables
Higher-income consumers were more frequent purchasers of kiwifruit, according to Fresh Trends 2023.
Twenty-four percent of those consumers making more than $100,000 a year said they purchased kiwifruit in the previous year, compared with 20% of those shoppers earning between $50,000 to $100,000 annually, 14% of consumers making between $25,000 and $50,000 per year and 13% of consumers making under $25,000 annually.
Fresh Trends 2023 showed that 15% of men and 20% of women said they purchased kiwifruit in the past year, a slightly larger spread than found in the Fresh Trends 2022 survey (18% for men and 20% for women).
Twenty-two percent of consumers with kids at home said they purchased kiwifruit in Fresh Trends 2023, compared with 14% of shoppers with no kids at home.
By geographic regions, consumption of fresh kiwifruit was fairly even. Eighteen percent of consumers in the West indicated they purchased fresh kiwifruit, the same percentage as the Midwest and similar to the Northeast (19%) and slightly above the
South (16%).
Younger consumers were indicated more frequent purchases of fresh kiwifruit, according to Fresh Trends 2023. Twenty-three percent of those consumers aged 30-39 said they purchased kiwifruit, compared with just 14% aged 60 and older.
