Fruit and Vegetables - Ireland - March 2014
Introduction
 
Fruit and vegetables’ sales performance tells a different tale in both NI and RoI, with the market value increasing year on year in NI between 2010 and 2014, while in RoI, the market value has been declining; driven by fruit and vegetables being used prominently as loss leaders. 

Moving forward, the market could see widely diverging purchasing habits among NI and RoI consumers, and have an overall greater impact on the health of Irish consumers. 

Key themes of the report
●	What are the most popular formats of fruit and vegetables among Irish consumers? – Do consumers prefer to buy fruit and vegetables fresh, or is there growing usage of other formats such as canned, dried or frozen? 
●	What impact will growing grocery prices have on fruit and vegetable sales? – How worried are consumers about price increases of fruit and vegetables? What impact will this have on the larger fruit and vegetables industry? 
●	What perceived differences do consumers see between fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables? – What makes fresh vegetables worth paying more for in the eyes of Irish consumers? How does this compare with other formats? 
●	What attitudes towards fruit and vegetables do Irish consumers hold in 2014? – How do consumers feel about the five-a-day suggestion? Are consumers put off of eating fruit and vegetables by odd shapes? 

Definitions 
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. Market sizes at constant 2013 prices are devised using Mintel’s food deflator.

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. In addition, 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

Consumer research
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 March 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 fruits, vegetables or potatoes, if any, do you buy in a typical week?”

“Thinking about how fruit and vegetables are sold, which characteristics, if any, do you generally associate with each of the following types?”

“Now 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.

Data sources 
In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA and CSO). 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.

Abbreviations
BAI	Broadcasting Authority of Ireland 	
CSO	Central Statistics Office	
ESRI	Economic and Social Research Institute	
EU	European Union 	
FDII	Food and Drink Industry Ireland 	
GMO	Genetically Modified Organism	
GNPD	Global New Products Database	
IoI 	Island of Ireland	
KFC	Kentucky Fried Chicken 	
NHF 	Nutrition and Health Foundation 	
NI	Northern Ireland	
NISRA	Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency 	
NPD	New Product Development 	
OECD	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 	
ONS	Office for National Statistics 	
RAI	Restaurants Association of Ireland 	
RoI 	Republic of Ireland	
TV	Television	
UK	United Kingdom 	
US	United States 	
WHO	World Health Organization