Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2019 'Surprises in Store' Unveiled at World of Fresh Ideas

The World of Fresh Ideas is a fresh produce industry seminar event that takes place annually in Berlin the day before the start of the Fruit Logistica trade exhibition. The conference is organized by members of Fruitnet Media and Messe Berlin, and curated by Fruitnet’s editorial team.

The 2019 edition of the World of Fresh Ideas, held on February 5, kicked off with a summary of the Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2019, Surprises in Store, which was authored by global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, “based on an in-depth consumer survey – examining the responses of 6,850 customers in 14 different markets across Europe and North America.”

A few key takeaways from the 34-page report, which is available as a free attractively-designed pdf download, as introduced at the World of Fresh Ideas by two of its authors, Rainer Münch and Alexander Pöhl:

The fresh produce section is still the lever for getting customers into the store: “The quality of a store’s fresh food plays a key role in determining where customers choose to shop for their groceries,” reads the report. “This is underlined in our consumer survey: 59 per cent of our respondents told us quality in the fresh food department was the most important factor in determining their choice of store…Customers satisfied with a store’s fresh food quality will visit it 7 per cent more frequently than those who are not. Even more significantly, their average basket is 24 per cent larger.”

Overall, consumers surveyed for the Trend Report identified quality as their top driver of satisfaction with a retailer’s fruits and vegetables, which came out ahead of “assortment” and “product presentation” as well as several other factors. Within the quality criterion, the report judged appearance to be the most important factor for consumers, followed by taste and then size and shape—though taste has been gaining ground in recent years.

Surprises in Store identified three different emerging differentiators of fruit and vegetable satisfaction that retailers in Europe and North America must pay attention to:

• Faster, easier, healthier
• Emotional connection
• Fruit and veg with a conscience

The report authors were also not alone in remarking on the contradiction between consumer demand for more convenience on one hand and greater environmentally friendliness on the other. This topic came up repeatedly in various sessions throughout Fruit Logistica. The full report offers several case studies in tackling this and other seeming contradictions in consumer demands and behavior.

Download your copy today!