Key Trends: Fresh Industry Outlook

By: Rick Stein, Vice President, Fresh Foods, FMI 

The fresh industry has spoken.

I heard a lot of great insights about the industry’s current mood and outlook during a recent string of fresh foods conferences and trade shows – including the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure in Orlando; Seafood Expo North America in Boston; and the Annual Meat Conference — from FMI and Meat Institute — in Orlando.

Leaders are hoping to benefit from quickly evolving consumer preferences while working to navigate hurdles on the pricing and trade fronts. The top-of-mind consumer trends are health and well-being, social media marketing, meal solutions and generational behaviors. Industry perspectives line up well with many of the findings from FMI’s latest fresh foods consumer research, including the Power of Produce, Power of Meat and Power of Seafood reports.

Varied Perspectives for Produce, Meat and Seafood

The industry’s perspectives differ by fresh sectors, and here are some of the latest highlights.

• Produce: Optimism has been driven by strong consumer demand along with momentum from the shoppers’ focus on health and well-being. Social media marketing has helped accelerate certain produce categories — with the frozen grapes craze on TikTok as just one notable example.
• Meat: The consumer’s continued interest in animal protein is fueling industry optimism, along with a strong showing for chicken in share of meals. The optimism is tempered somewhat by concerns about cost and herd counts.
• Seafood: The seafood business has been challenged by low growth and the perception that items are expensive. However, this sector benefits from the shoppers’ ongoing belief that seafood supports health and nutrition.
  

Price and Trade are Top of Mind

A unifying industry theme across most fresh sectors is a focus on trade and tariffs policy and pricing. This focus is perhaps most prominent in seafood, given the relatively high levels of imports and shopper perceptions of high prices. Seafood executives are hoping to grow the share of frequent seafood shoppers, because this group tends to lean towards younger generations and families with children, according to the Power of Seafood. Importantly, these frequent shoppers are more likely to believe that seafood is affordable.

Consumer Education Crucial for Driving Consumption

One of the insights I hear most often is the need to educate and inspire fresh foods consumers — and to focus on storytelling. Here are some ideas on how to succeed with these goals.

• The industry needs to explain what’s behind different cuts of meat and cuisines.
• Consumers need fresh inspiration through recipes to gain cooking confidence.
• Shoppers are interested in hearing about nutritional benefits and the ability to layer fresh foods into meals across dayparts.
• Shoppers need to be reminded how they can prepare meals at home quickly and conveniently while saving money in comparison to restaurant dining. 
• Retailers have opportunities to train associates to educate consumers on these points.
  

Continuing the Discussion at FreshForward

FMI’s upcoming FreshForward conference, August 11 -13 in San Diego, will help further amplify these key topics. The conference focuses on how to advance the fresh community featuring  opportunities for networking and collaborative breakout groups.

FreshForward is FMI’s annual gathering of senior-level retailers and suppliers in the fresh sector. This year’s conference will spotlight three highly important education tracks: Capturing Meal Occasions, Health and Well-being, and Labor Challenges.

I hope you’ll take the opportunity to register now now for FreshForward.

Register Today