7-11 FB Veggy Fast-Food

 Value-Added Fresh Vegetables Positioned for Growth

Health and convenience will be the leading drivers of increased demand for fresh vegetables in the next five years, according to a report released today from Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group.  The report cites the growing U.S. health crisis and consumer desire for easy-to-prepare meals among the reasons. The report notes that even though Americans are concerned about the U.S. obesity epidemic, the stand-alone marketing of a “healthy benefit” to mainstream consumers isn’t enough to increase consumption of fresh vegetables – evident by the overall flat consumption rate of fresh vegetables in recent years.  The report recommends that produce firms put more emphasis on creating value-added products that are not only healthy, but easy to prepare.

Here’s Karen Halliburton Barber, assistant vice president and senior agricultural analyst for “As grower-shipper processors look to increase sales of fresh vegetables, we believe the solution really lies with the concept of healthy convenience.” The idea is to give consumers the best of both worlds: the healthfulness of fresh vegetables and the convenience of processed foods.”