MINTEL CATEGORY INSIGHTS
Global New Products Database
Vegetables Market Overview
Vegetable sales enjoyed a pandemicrelated surge to $58 billion in 2020, but will begin to revert to form in 2021 as the category realigns with its prepandemic trajectory. By 2023-24, vegetable sales should return to the steady but slow growth that the category has seen for much of the past decade, buoyed by consumer interest in nutrition, and aspirations of eating healthier.
Key Issues
49% of 18- to 34-year-olds consider protein alternatives — e.g., Beyond Beef, Chik’n Strips — a good source of protein, compared with 35- to 54-year-olds (43%) and those age 55-plus (19%). Younger adults may need or want more detailed support from brands and retailers to help them align vegetables with their specific nutritional goals and diets. Younger adults fall notably short of older consumers in category engagement, yet well-being and nutrition remain top of mind for these young consumers, indicating shifts in the meaning of “better for you.”
What Consumers Want, and Why As consumers’ routines adjust to more out-ofhome activities, they will seek convenient solutions that speak to their renewed interest in nutrition and wellbeing. This bodes well for vegetables, especially those that are convenient timesavers, including items that are pre-cut, seasoned or in ready-to-cook packaging. People may generally associate health with freshness, but the proliferation of plantbased meat alternatives demonstrates that consumers will accept healthy food in a processed form, a notion that packaged vegetable brands can tap into. Personal health is, without question, the significant driver for the vegetable category, but there’s a role in the category’s messaging for environmental awareness and the health of the planet, particularly in connecting with younger consumers and parents.
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progressivegrocer.com
