Food: Price of fruit and vegetables only the fourth most important purchasing criterion

When buying fruit and vegetables, it is not the low price that is important for customers, but rather quality and freshness. This is shown by a representative survey conducted by the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Heilbronn.

Two thirds of consumers named these two purchase criteria. Avoiding food waste came in third place. Prices came in fourth place. Both aspects are important to every second person.

“Products like Nutella and Coca-Cola are the same everywhere. The quality of fruit and vegetables is not consistent. That’s why it’s particularly important to customers that it’s fresh,” said Stephan Rüschen, professor of food retail at the DHBW. Nevertheless, special offers and promotional prices for fruit and vegetables are very relevant for many people. One in two people pay attention to them.

Rüschen explains why many people want to avoid food waste when it comes to fruit and vegetables as follows: “Customers don’t want to throw away anything they’ve spent money on.” According to the survey, it is also important for many consumers to be able to buy fruit and vegetables in small quantities, with little packaging and regional origin.

A low carbon footprint is mentioned less frequently as a purchase criterion. This is only important for one in three customers. Study author Rüschen is surprised by this. The value chain for food accounts for around a third of emissions, and CO2 is the most important climate currency, said Rüschen. “But customers cannot know whether one product has a better carbon footprint than another. There is no label or seal on fruit and vegetables.”

Sustainability is becoming less important when shopping. Another recently published DHBW survey shows that only 30 percent of consumers are currently willing to forego prosperity for sustainability. Two years ago, one in two consumers said this.