Is fresh produce critical to the success of retail stores in 2019?

Last week, I attended Fruit Logistica in Berlin, the world’s leading trade fair for the fresh fruit and vegetable business. If you think you don’t have time to prepare and enjoy fruits and veggies, these predictions for 2019 might change your mind. Here are my insights into the fresh food and produce that you can expect to see in stores this year.

Fresh produce will become increasingly important for retail success

According to the recent Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2019 - Surprises in Store, which launched at this year’s Fruit Logistica, fresh produce will play a much more important role in retail this coming year. The report shows that customers who remain satisfied with a store’s fresh food quality will make an additional 7% more visits than to stores where the quality of fresh food is not so pleasing. In addition, satisfaction with a store’s fresh food leads to a 24% larger average basket size. The Surprises in Store report also found that 47% of customers are willing to pay more for higher quality fresh food. These figures show that for the European retail market in particular, fresh fruit and vegetables are becoming increasingly important for success.

Faster, easier, healthier

Convenience and speed are becoming much more important to consumers buying behaviour. This trend has been mirrored by the rise in recipe kits and subscription style recipe boxes which all promise fresh meals, easily produced, whilst ensuring minimal food waste.

This trend is being clearly understood by growers and retailers who are creating new ways to make it easier for consumers to cook fresh meals, easily. This is where convenience kits look to become one of the biggest trends predicted for 2019.

Convenience kit: All the ingredients you need to cook the recipe are included in the right quantity: veggies and spices.

Emotional connection: Looking fresh and appealing

The Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2019 - Surprises in Store also found that 59% of respondents believe the quality of food in the fresh produce department is the most important factor in determining their choice of store.

As consumers we are now associating the quality of a store directly with the fresh produce available. The variety and appearance of produce are becoming important deciding factors in choosing which retail store to visit.

As a response to this, producers are introducing new kinds of fruits and vegetables to keep up with the ever-increasing demands around variety. New varieties of pink pears and red kiwis (pictured below) offer consumers an exciting new range and can help to draw them back time and time again. Introducing new fruits and vegetables can also help retailers discover new varieties that are more resistant to damage during shipping or have longer shelf lives.

New variety of very resistant and tasty “Fred” pears  

New variety of red kiwi with unique taste

Ethical Fruits and vegetables

We have seen a rise across food retail in the need for consumers to understand the provenance of the products they purchase. Fresh produce is no different. Local and seasonal products with greater transparency of the supply chain were a key feature at the conference.

This additional information helps shoppers make more informed purchasing decisions. This awareness of air miles, locally sourced produce and seasonality was also a key feature in the conversations around sustainability. Packaging was clearly focusing on innovative, recycling-ready solutions and highlights the demand for these more sustainable solutions in 2019 and beyond.

Were you at Fruit Logistica? Were there any trends that resonated for you? If so, it would be great to hear your thoughts.