Consumers continue to influence the food trends, including the produce market. And produce growers and companies are working to keep up with the growing demand for more fruit and organic products.
Families and millennials have an increasing interest in healthy eating and that’s driving the demand for more fresh produce.
“Our growers are planting more Meijer Lemons [and] Cara Cara Oranges,” Joan Wickham, director of SunKist’s communications, told Farm Journal. “That’s very popular among consumers right now.”
The food service industry is also adjusting their menus to fit the trend.
“You’re seeing a lot of chefs work on menus that have vegetables—not just as a side addition, but center of the plate,” said Mark Garcia, director of Foodservice Marketing at Avocados From Mexico.
There is also a push from consumers for organic products, and many companies are transitioning to more organic acres in their production.
“We’re doing a lot of organic farming,” Roger Pepperl, marketing director for Stemilt Growers, told Farm Journal. “That’s really taken off. It’s a big, big thing. All of the peaches and nectarines are organic.”
But Garcia says that organic is not gaining as much popularity throughout the food service industry because of the expense.
This is not really about organic plants, but the picture of the tomatoes made me think of mine. My little tomatoes this year did wonderful and look every bit as pretty as these, but my squash was gorgeous when it started with beautiful flowers and was covered with squash, but for some reason, the squash did not get any larger than one inch, and then just started dying on the vine. I know this is not like a chat, but if you guys ever have anything about squash, I would love to read about it. thanks