American consumers are increasingly concerned about grocery – and especially fresh produce – inflation but so far haven’t significantly changed their buying patterns.
During an?International Fresh Produce Association BB #:378962 town hall webinar February 23, Jonna Parker, team lead for IRI Fresh, said in a January consumer survey, 95 percent of shoppers said they are concerned about food cost inflation, and 89 percent perceive the cost of groceries as higher than last year.
Asked what categories they notice price increases, fresh produce came in second (67 percent) only to beef and pork (73 percent).
But Parker said the bright side is that consumers continue to buy many fresh fruits and vegetables at similar or higher levels than a year ago.
She said a look at the top 25 grocery volume categories showing growth in the last quarter, eight are fresh produce (cherries, party trays, pumpkins, plums, okra, mixed fruit, berries and artichokes).
Several of those categories showed substantial price rises, such as party trays (23 percent higher price), pumpkins (25 percent higher) and mixed fruit (10 percent higher).
Roland Harmon, senior director global produce sourcing for Walmart, said the retail recognizes that consumers are more concerned now about inflation than the pandemic.
He said there are four main trends that Walmart notices and is responding to:
Consumers still demand online and delivery options for groceries
They are responding to higher prices by seeking discounts and lower priced options
They continue to eat more at home and create restaurant quality experiences there.
There’s still a trend to stock-ups because of fear of out-of-stocks and supply chain concerns, which stresses retailers’ ability to keep enough product on hand.
Marianne Santo, senior category manager of produce and floral for Wakefern Food Corp., said inflation is causing consumers to put greater emphasis on product shelf-life, which benefits their food budgets and helps relieve food waste.
Parker said IRI and 210 Analytics’ recent retail report gets more into the details of January consumer sentiment, but it’s important to note that while in-home eating is still much higher than pre-pandemic, shoppers are feeling meal-fatigue and are still interested in creative meal ideas, so retailer should fight the urge to limit store offerings.
“Consumers are willing to be creative still, and fresh produce is still cheaper than many [food] alternatives,” she said.
