Consumer insights show increase in "trendy" vegetable purchases

Western Australians love brassicas. Queenslanders are keen on fresh salad and Victorians love their…

Western Australians love brassicas. Queenslanders are keen on fresh salad and Victorians love their leafy Asian vegetables.

According to the latest data insights from global information company Nielsen, consumers in particular states are buying significantly more of these vegetables when compared to their buying patterns a year earlier.

The Hort Innovation funded project – Harvest To Home (delivered by Nielsen) indicates that some fruit, nut and vegetable industries recorded up to a 12.2% percent increase in dollar sales growth for take-home purchases this year alone.

In the 12 months to November 3, eggplant (up 17.1 percent) and cabbage (up 12.7 percent) had the greatest growth in volumes purchased by Australian households.

Over this same period, market trends recorded for Western Australia show significant increases in the take-home purchases of cauliflower (at 25.3 percent dollar sales growth and 11.4 percent volume growth) and broccoli (16.4 percent sales growth and 10.9 percent growth in volume).

Across Australia, households with couples aged 35 years and older and without children are dominating vegetable consumption, accounting for more than 50 per cent of bean, cabbage, leek and mushroom dollar sales.

High income households are also avid fresh produce shoppers, accounting for more than 40 percent of total fruit and vegetable dollar sales. Low income households account for approximately 25 percent of fruit and vegetable dollar sales.

Hort Innovation CEO Matt Brand said the Harvest to Home analytical tool was a valuable resource for both growers and industry at large to monitor consumer trends across the country.

“From the data recorded, we can see which categories are tracking well with consumers, we can see the growth in purchases by Australian households in both dollar and volume terms, the percentage of households buying, and what is trending across the retail market in each state,” he said.

“This information helps our growers to better understand consumer preference, and which groups of people are most likely to purchase their produce.

“It also helps growers to make more informed business decisions, providing opportunities that could assist them to upsell their produce and reduce farm gate waste, and it is a great public resource to track market trends.”

General data around household purchasing behaviour and consumer insights is publicly available, with more detailed insights available to levy payers by request.