Very often, the US also leads the way on the food trends and consumption front. We asked Andrea Montagna, CEO of Bonduelle Fresh Americas, what the situation looks like on the IV-range front. Let's see what the trends are.
FreshPlaza (FP): How is the fresh produce consumer trend in the US?
Andrea MontagnaAM: More shoppers are eating at home, which is driving demand at grocery stores. Inflation is still having an impact, with slightly more than a third (36%) of shoppers saying they prefer to buy what is healthy and do so when they can get a good deal.
Andrea Montagna
FP: How is the packaged salad consumer trend in the US?
AM: Consumers continue to look for new flavors and ingredients as health and wellness trends continue to be important in the packaged salad categories. We have seen a decrease in purchase frequency across all packaged salad categories (salad greens, salad kits, salad bowls, coleslaw). Household penetration, which indicates the percent of households that have purchased specific items, has also decreased across most of the packaged salad category, except for salad kits, which saw an increase in household penetration (50.8% year ago YTD vs current YTD 51.3%). At the same time, the entire Packaged Salad category is seeing year over year growth as consumers continue to seek convenient and healthy meals. This steady growth has driven some of the highest sales that Packaged Salad has ever seen.
FP: How is the inflation trend in the US?
AM: The cost of produce is clearly factoring into the mindset of consumers, who report buying less overall, purchasing store brand and bulk sizes more often this quarter than in 2Q due to inflation. Data show:
53% of consumers claim to be searching for deals or promotions as a result of inflation
54% claim that they are buying less overall
44% are shopping with coupons
51% are purchasing store-brand items
36% are waiting longer to purchase for a deal or promotion.
While this is not grocery specific, it does support the impact inflation has had on the shopper behavior of consumers overall.
In the past six months, 95% of consumers noticed higher prices in a variety of categories; however, they are currently seeing the highest inflation in grocery prices (compared with gas prices) last quarter.
21% of consumers anticipate spending more on grocery purchases in the next 3 months, largely due to inflation.
Our source is CRC (Cleveland Research Company) October, 2022.
FP: Which Bonduelle Fresh Americas skus/products are performing better?
AM: Our top four items remain our Ready Pac Bistro bowls:
Chicken Caesar, Santa Fe, Cobb and Chef flavors
These have about 20% distribution in total US, and 40% distribution in Southern California.
FP: What are the latest innovations launched in the market by Bonduelle Fresh Americas?
AM: We have just launched two delicious new kits:
The Bistro Homestyle Bacon Ranch Chopped Salad, which combines uncured bacon, crispy fried onions and bacon flavored crouton crumbles with nutrient-dense vegetables for a smoky yet satisfying salad. And the Bistro Fresh Mex Chopped Salad, which brings together the best of signature Baja California flavors. With crispy tortilla strips, spicy red pepper and jalapeno crisps and a spicy avocado dressing, this kit combines deliciously spicy notes with crunchy vegetables topped with creamy Cotija cheese crumbles.
In addition to our new salad kits, we launched two new Bistro Bowls adding bacon to our recipes at the beginning of summer: The Bistro Bacon Caesar Salad Bowl, with crisp romaine lettuce, oven roasted chicken, bacon crumbles, parmesan cheese and creamy caesar dressing - a wonderful twist on Americàs favorite salad. And the Bistro Chicken BLT Bowl, with a blend of crisp iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, chopped red cabbage, oven roasted chicken, bacon crumbles, whole grape tomatoes with a creamy buttermilk ranch dressing. A wonderful alternative to the beloved sandwich when seeking a lunch on-the-go!
These bowls are available nationwide at your favorite retailers including: Shop Rite, Giant Foods, Winco, Harris Teeter, Weis, Smart & Final, Winco and more!
FP: How's the Ag situation?
AM: This year, INSV (Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus) is impacting the leafy greens industry much more than in prior years.
The virus, which is not harmful to people, has reduced yields by 20%-40%. It also started earlier, leading to overall more aggressive pressure on the market than prior years. That pressure has caused the cost for raw lettuce to reach historically high levels. We expect supply to rebalance in mid-November.