Retailers report no slow-down in packaged produce sales and consumer demand.
But consumers are looking for more than just the traditional bagged salad and big cut fruit clamshell.
Produce Retailer’s annual Packaging survey polled about 150 buyers ranging from supermarket retailers to wholesale grocers to specialty produce stores.
Similar to previous years, 80% said they sell packaged produce, and of that group, 78% said sales have increased on it in the past 12 months.
In previous surveys, buyers perceived convenience to be the primary benefit to the consumer. In last year’s survey, 77% of buyers listed convenience as the primary driver for consumers purchasing packaged product. But this year, only 55% of buyers said convenience was the main reason.
Pre-packaged single servings were the No. 1 motivator, said 15% of our respondents, up from 7% in last year’s survey. Additionally, 17% said consumers had food safety as the primary reason for packaged purchase, up from 8% last year.
Old favorites
When it comes to value-added packaged produce, some items are strong sellers year after year. Retailers in our survey were asked to name the top seller in terms of units sold, and 22% named cut watermelon, followed by 21% saying cut fruit mix, 15% berries and 13% saying cut vegetables.
In last year’s survey, those were the top four best sellers as well.
Single serving variety
Single-serving packages are clearly on the rise, as 78% of buyers said their stores carry them, up from 64% last year. When asked how sales of single-serving produce packs have changed in the last 12 months, 82% said sales have increased, including 15% who said sales have increased more than 25%.
Last year, 72% reported sales increases on single-serving or snack-sized packs of fresh produce.
Consumers have many more options on snack-sized packs than they used to. More than 92% of retailers said they have 5 or more SKUs of ready-to-eat snack-sized items, up from 78% who said that last year.
In addition, 52% of retailers said they have 10 or more snack-sized SKUs.
When asked what trends retailers are seeing in size offerings for packaged produce, 55% said they’re offering more options in smaller sizes, while 33% said they’re offering more value-sized or club store packs.
In last year’s survey, 52% said they were offering more small sizes.
There’s no single dominating item in the snack-sized category. When asked which item is their top selling snack-sized item, 25% of retailers said cut apples with dip, but 23% said cut vegetables, and another 21% listed cut vegetables with dip.
Only 13% said ready-to-eat berries were their top seller, even as 26% said that in last year’s survey.
This is a category that allows a strong variety of fruits and vegetables to shine.
Rise of the clamshells
As Generation X came of food purchasing age, bags of salads were there, and we’ve never looked back. They’ve always been around for millennials, but could they be turning to another salad option?
Our survey doesn’t specifically look at generational interest in packaged salads, but we did ask our retailers which packaging on salads is a bigger seller in store, and 51% said clamshells versus 46% who said bags. This is the first time in our packaging survey clamshells have garnered more support than bags.
Salads in clamshells are definitely gaining popularity.
In fact, The Packer asks consumers in its annual Fresh Trends report in which containers they prefer to purchase salads, and while about 90% have said bags the past five years, the percentage who also say clamshells has risen each of the past five years, up to 41% in the 2016 edition.
Download the full report results here.