Tag: produce blueprints

There’s no question online grocery shopping is now mainstream, but the future may not be smooth sailing.

While convenience is a driver of online grocery sales, it comes with a price, and not everyone is willing to pay it. Click-and-collect appears more popular than delivery, Brick Meets Click research shows, with more than 45 percent of shoppers choosing curbside and/or store pickup.

Year-over-year ecommerce grocery sales remained strong through the first six months of this year, but the growth rate has slowed since the Covid spike that took place in 2020.

Early in the pandemic, ecommerce sales focused on canned and packaged foods along with long-lasting pantry vegetables like onions and potatoes. Since then, consumers have become more comfortable purchasing fresh produce items online.

With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I would offer my Christmas Wish List for the produce industry. At the core of every “wish” is the hope to increase consumption and sales of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Covid, that major disruptor, gave a shot in the arm to online grocery sales. Various consumer surveys show that approximately half of all U.S. adults shop for groceries online at least sometimes.

Inflation has been at the front of the news for much of this year, and it has affected Americans’ ability to purchase food.

The U.S. produce industry is far from united in its sentiments about imports.

The earlier analysis leads to the third leg of the stool: how imports affect domestic growers and crops.

As a result of labor pressures, California growers are being “forced to look for alternates in automation and mechanization,” says Ian LeMay, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association in Fresno, CA.