Dive Brief:
- For two weeks beginning Aug. 21, retailer Ahold Delhaize is placing Junk Fruit snacks — fruit packaged so that it can easily be eaten on the go — in the produce section of its stores and offering promotional prices on those and other fruit products. According to a news release, the move is part of the company's initiative to get its customers to eat more fruit and less junk.
- The retailer noted that even though customers like fruit, they find it more difficult to eat since it often has to be peeled or cut into pieces. That inspired the Ahold Delhaize to launch the Junk Fruit line, which it prepared it to be as easy as junk food to take along and eat.
- According to the company, Junk Fruit is one of several healthy initiatives the retailer has introduced in recent years, including a successful "magic vegetables" promotion and a reformulation of products to lower the sugar or salt levels or increase fiber.
Dive Insight:
Ahold Delhaize's Junk Fruit line and promotion is a model encouraged by fruit suppliers as more people move toward healthier and easier-to-eat snacks. According to Hortidaily.com, people will consume about 40% more fruit if it’s peeled and sliced.
Despite that data, Nielsen reported that fresh fruits and vegetables cut and packaged in snack sizes are dropping in popularity, suggesting that perhaps consumers either don’t like the extra packaging or don’t see the value of paying more for bite-sized fresh food portions.
Another barrier to increasing the purchase of fruits and vegetables is the price. Category Partners and Beacon Research Solutions found in a survey that more than half of produce buyers cited cost as the main reason they would pass on certain pre-cut items. The survey also found they would pass on prepackaged fruit if those bundled together didn't look fresh or were closer to spoiling.
What’s more, although Americans cite eating more fruits and vegetables as the top factor for healthy eating, they're not flocking to on-the-go fresh produce offerings as much as they are to other snack options, Nielsen reported. Sales of on-the-go fresh produce, or pre-cut produce that has been portioned intentionally for snacking purpose, declined by nearly 2% in dollars and 6% in unit volume over the last year.
On the other hand, Ahold Delhaize saw sales of vegetables double after launching its Magical Vegetables campaign, which worked to change the notion that vegetables aren't tasty, according to Eurofruit. And on-the-go produce snacking options have topped $1 billion in sales, even if most people don’t buy them, suggesting there’s room for the market to grow, provided food producers can find a way to jazz up the marketing and appeal.