Continued price deflation for fruit and vegetables in RoI between 2014 and 2015 has helped to drive usage of fresh fruit and vegetables within the region, but has seen overall sales value fall. In NI, on the other hand, increased consumer prices have seen the value of the market grow between 2014 and 2015, but have seen overall fruit and vegetable usage remain somewhat stagnant.

Moving forward, with a continued focus on healthy eating in both NI and RoI, this could help to sustain the usage of fruit and vegetables among Irish consumers.

• What are the most popular formats of fruit and vegetables among Irish consumers? – Do consumers prefer to buy fruit and vegetables fresh or have growing costs of living pressure seen consumers more inclined to opt for other formats?

• What impact will discounters have on the fruit and vegetable market? – With the likes of Aldi and Lidl seeing increased usage by Irish consumers in 2014/15, what will this mean for fresh fruit and vegetable sales?

• Other than lowest price, what factors influence Irish consumers when buying fruit and vegetables? – How important is the likes of brand or shelf life to consumers when choosing what fruit and vegetable products to buy?

• What attitudes towards fruit and vegetables do Irish consumers hold in 2015? – Is the drive to lead a healthier lifestyle driving fruit and vegetable usage in Ireland? What other attitudes do consumers have towards fruit and vegetables?

• With food waste becoming a more important issue, what impact will it have on the types of fruit and vegetables that consumers buy? – Will consumers continue to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, or will they seek out frozen/shelf-stable variants to cut down on their food waste?

This report covers the NI and RoI retail market for fruit and vegetables. Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices (rsp) unless stated otherwise.

The following types of fruit and vegetables are examined within this report:

Fresh fruit and vegetables

• Sold loose or prepacked and including pre-prepared produce and salad vegetables.

• For the purposes of this report, prepacked salads refers to mixed and single-leaf salads in bags, bowls and trays which may contain small amounts of other salad vegetables such as carrot, beetroot or cabbage. It also includes unwashed bagged salads. Salad bowls includes leaf-based salads in trays and bowls which also contain protein and may be sold with a fork, and are also included.

• However, specifically excluded are prepacked, dressed salads such as coleslaw, potato salad, prawn salad, couscous etc.

Frozen fruit and vegetables

• Frozen vegetables include varieties such as peas, beans, sweetcorn and broccoli, as well as mixes of vegetables.

• Frozen fruit is an emerging market. To date the sector consists mainly of soft berry fruits and mixes.

Canned/ambient fruit and vegetables

• Canned vegetables encompass all tinned vegetables including baked beans and other shelf-stable formats such as snap pots, pouches, cartons and jars.

• Baked beans are included.

• Canned and other ambient fruit, whether incorporating syrup or fruit juice, in cans, cartons, pots and jars, are included.

Dried fruit

• Dried fruit are defined as tree fruits (eg prunes, apricots, dates and figs), vine fruits packaged for snacking (eg raisins), mixed fruit packs, moist, partially rehydrated products and flavoured fruit pieces. These definitions have been used as the basis for market size figures.

• It should be noted that products not specifically targeted at the snacking sector, but which are normally stocked alongside home baking goods (eg larger pack sizes of dried fruit), are included as they may also be used for snacking purposes. Such products are exempt from VAT.

Potatoes in all forms

• Fresh bagged and loose potatoes, chilled prepared potatoes (such as mash, wedges etc), canned, dehydrated or frozen (chips, waffles, shaped items and roast potatoes) are included.

Excluded

• Mixed vegetables including meat

• Fruit bars

• Prepared dishes which combine vegetables and protein or carbohydrates.

Other Mintel reports of interest include:

• Children’s Eating Habits – Ireland, March 2014

• Attitudes To Food – Ireland, August 2013

• Brand vs Own Label Retailing – Ireland, April 2012

• Crisps, Salty Snacks and Nuts – UK, January 2014

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive online consumer research into Irish consumers’ consumption of and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. The research was carried out by Toluna on behalf of Mintel in December 2014.

A total of 1,250 internet users aged 16+ in RoI and 750 internet users aged 16+ in NI were asked questions including:

“Which of the following types of fruit, if any, do you buy in a typical week?”

“Which of the following types of vegetables (excluding potatoes), if any, do you buy in a typical week?”

“Which of the following types of potatoes, if any, do you buy in a typical week?”

“Thinking about buying fresh fruit, vegetables and potatoes, which of the following factors, apart from price, are most important to you when deciding what to buy?”

“Thinking about buying frozen and/or non-chilled fruit, vegetables, potatoes and beans, which of the following factors, apart from price, are most important to you when deciding what to buy?”

“Thinking about fruit and vegetables (including potatoes), which, if any of the following statements do you agree with?”

The results from this survey are discussed in The Consumer sections of this report.

Mintel also draws consumer insight from other sources including Mintel’s Inspire database and previous Mintel reports from the UK and Ireland.

Please note that the results presented in The Consumer sections of this report relate to the usage and habits of Irish internet users only, and do not account for the behaviours of non-internet users. Eurostat (January 2015) highlights that 80% of RoI consumers have used the internet in the last 12 months, while the ONS (May 2014) highlights 79% of NI consumers have used the internet.

In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and CSO – Central Statistics Office). In some cases therefore it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.

For the purposes of this report:

• Ireland refers to the island of Ireland

• NI refers to Northern Ireland

• RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland

• Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.