Fresh food market in the U.S.
Sales of fresh produce in the United States have increased by almost 20 percent since 2019, reaching over 75 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Vegetables account for over half of the produce sales in the U.S. The sales of fresh fruit also account for almost half of total produce sales. Berries and apples have the highest sales shares out of all fresh fruit purchases. For the 52 weeks ended on October 3, 2021, U.S. sales of fresh pork increased by approximately 6.3 percent.Online fresh market
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had a big impact on online purchasing, likely due to lockdown restrictions and quarantine measures. Compared to shopping habits before the pandemic, all fresh food categories saw an increase in online purchases. As of 2022, ground beef and chicken breast are the top two fresh food categories for online purchases, accounting for about six percent and five percent, respectively.Although online fresh food purchases have increased, there are many reasons why consumers are prevented from buying food online. Some reasons include expensive delivery charges, non-sufficient quality or freshness, and the lack of personal contact that you would get when shopping in-store. Even so, over 65 percent of consumers intend to buy more fresh products online in the future, meaning we will likely see the online fresh food market continue to grow.
