High prices force some consumers to switch from fresh to frozen, but fruits and vegetables still on the menu
A survey of consumers suggests a move away from fresh fruit and vegetables when prices are high.
Stories of $7 cauliflower surprised consumers last winter but a new survey shows that affected purchasing choices with consumers moving to frozen or canned vegetables.
The study, conducted in May by researchers at the universities of Guelph and Dalhousie, found that shoppers are still intent on eating fruits and vegetables.
“The irony was that broccoli prices increased percentage-wise more than cauliflower at the time,” says Lianne Foti, an assistant professor in the marketing and consumer studies department at University of Guelph.
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“Consumers were making choices based on media reports and they need to make rational choices based on their own observances. Eighty-one per cent of consumers avoided cauliflower when the report came out.”
Foti says cauliflower prices had increased eight percent in the 12 months leading up to the survey, while broccoli prices had in-creased 19 per cent in the same time period.
Lettuce prices increased 22 per cent and the cost of apples went up 27 per cent.
“No one talked about the cost of potatoes, which are local and available all year round,” says Larry McIntosh of Peak of the Market in Winnipeg, a distributor of locally grown produce.
“The price of potatoes hasn’t changed significantly in the last few years. We don’t want Canadians to eat less fruits and vegetables, but they can purchase more strategically.”
Fuel prices and the decline of the Canadian dollar drove the cost of imported fruits and vegetables up during the winter, but locally produced root vegetables that are available throughout the cold months were readily available at reasonable prices.
“The results of the study are good news for local producers because the research showed the demand for fruits and vegetables is still there and local producers can meet that need,” says Alfons Weersink, a professor of food, agriculture and resource economics at the University of Guelph.
“The research showed consumers weren’t switching away from fruits and vegetables, they were just choosing a different type, but now they can get fresh locally.”
Foti says people perceive farmers markets as trustworthy, which is good news for such markets across the country.
Research is currently underway on how proximity to farmers markets may affect produce purchases.
“In our research, we learned that 73 per cent of consumers buy their fruits and vegetables at big box stores and that people who used flyers to plan their shopping made more rational choices when it came to buying produce,” says Foti.
