Consumer Trends From the Produce Aisle

How and what consumers purchase as they shop up and down the produce aisle something that is closely studied and reviewed by grocery retailers.

Editor of the Produce Retailer Magazine Pamela Reimenschneider visits 200 grocery stores' produce aisles around the country on a yearly basis. She shares

Reimenschneider: "You know everyone talks about kale and we found in the Packers' Fresh Trends 2016, that while kale is on top of mind for a lot of people — talking about media buzz and that everyone's talking about kale — not everyone is buying it. We found that fewer than 20 percent of our shoppers actually said that they bought kale in the past 12 months. So I'm thinking that the frequency of kale purchase is more along among core kale consumers than among everyone out there. It is the vegetable that everyone loves to hate, I think. A certain percentage of people like to mock it maybe a bit. But there are the core users who embrace that super food and that super nutrition that people are embracing and you're seeing it in a lot more salad blends and food service as well."

She says brussel sprouts are another vegetable that is trending up among consumers. Not only as whole head brussel spouts but also on the sometimes the whole stock and then as value added options like shreds, halves and microwave kits.

Reimeshcnieder will be a keynote speaker at the CO Fruits and Vegetables Growers Association conference on Feb. 21st in Denver.