Refreshing News

Overall, 85% of NACS retail members say they sell fresh fruit or vegetables, an eight-point increase over 2015.

August 08, 2016

Each month in NACS Magazine’s “In Context” column, NACS Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Jeff Lenard shares perspectives on some of the big picture issues facing our industry, and what NACS is doing to address those issues—both within the industry and to the larger audience of customers and potential customers. He can be reached at jlenard@nacsonline.com or (703) 518-4272.

Sometimes repetition can work. After years of hearing that we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, we finally are. The signs are everywhere. In grocery stores, produce is considered to be the top department in terms of both importance and growth— so much so that center-of-the-store product manufacturers are trying to find ways to get to the periphery as well. They see the produce aisle as where the growth is, and where customers are increasingly going.

Quality and freshness are the biggest factors influencing why consumers will buy produce at a grocery store. That’s no surprise; those attributes are typically at the top of any list related to fresh or prepared food. But the next criteria on the list is our industry’s opportunity: convenience.

These were some of the key takeaways I gleaned from education sessions at the United Fresh conference in June. At the expo, the focus was squarely on convenience, such as cherry and grape tomatoes as portable snacks, and lots of convenient packaging for on-the-go consumption. Avocados (for things other than guacamole) took center stage, and I tasted several interesting produce combinations for smoothies and juices. Oh, and there were tiny baby pineapples that you just cut off the top and scoop out the inside with a spoon—the ultimate in convenience!

At networking events, one trend was repeated over and over: Attendees see our channel as the one with the most promise for growth. (And many are excited to exhibit at and attend the NACS Show this October.)

The numbers bear this out: Sales of fresh fruits and vegetables in convenience stores grew 14.4% last year, more than five times the overall growth rate of produce sales in the United States, according to Nielsen data.

NACS members also are leading the way and are stocking more fresh produce. Overall, 85% of our members say they sell fresh fruit or vegetables, an eight-point increase over last year. And retailers continue to add fresh items to their product mix: 43% say that they have added more fresh fruit or vegetables this year, 39% have added more packaged salads and 30% have added more cut fruits and vegetables.

And our industry is getting credit for our efforts. At the May 2016 Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) Summit, our industry was singled out—in a very positive way—for offering more better-for-you options in stores. We received more positive exposure when an endurance athlete and writer named Frank Beard began a 30-day experiment, eating only food purchased at gas stations. His goal was to gain no more than a few pounds. Thirty days later he had lost weight, felt great and said it was actually weird to eat food that wasn’t from a gas station.

At NACS, we are advancing our industry’s progress by developing toolkits and creating partnerships with groups that can help advance our efforts. Take a look at what we have to offer at nacsonline.com/reFresh and let me know how we can work with you. You’ll also find links to the PHA video and to Frank Beard’s blog, “30 Days of Gas Station Food.”

And who knows, maybe one day, everyone can get to a point where they think it’s weird to eat food that has not been purchased at a convenience store. Now that’s reFreshing.

Jeff Lenard is the NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives. He can be reached at jlenard@nacsonline.com or (703) 518-4272.

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