Fruit and vegetable consumption up by 3% in 2021

In the second corona year, the Dutch consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables rose by 3 percent, according to the analysis of GroentenFruit Huis for 2021. Healthy eating with fruit and vegetables continues to attract interest. Households bought 3 percent more vegetables and fruit for their meals at home last year. Consumption outside the home, at 2 percent, was also slightly higher than a year earlier, but still lagged far behind pre-corona (2019) levels due to corona measures.

Demand for convenience 

The Dutch love convenience. Within the total household expenditure on fresh vegetables, the category of freshly cut vegetables has a share of 36 percent. In the context of convenience, a fresh cut package can also increasingly be found in the kitchen. Such a package contains the right amount of ingredients for preparing a meal. The range of fresh food packages has been expanded considerably in the past year with new dishes. Dutch consumers embrace the help and cooking inspiration that such a package offers. In 2021, the number of buyers increased by 7 percent. Sales grew by 13 percent to over 24 million kilos. This is evident from information from GroentenFruit Huis based on figures from GfK. The most popular fresh food package is tomato soup, followed by lasagne and curry madras.

Online and local 

The Dutch experience the advantages of online shopping. In 2021, the sale of vegetables and fruit online increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year. Consumers also increasingly know how to find the grower to buy local products. In 2021, Dutch people bought 20 percent more fruit and vegetables in a small shop, stall or vending machine at the producer. The share of this sales channel in the total consumer purchase of fruit and vegetables is 2 percent.

In addition, more organically grown vegetables and fruit ended up in the shopping trolley in 2021. The Dutch bought 11 percent more organically grown fruit and vegetables compared to 2020, bringing the organic share to 4 percent. The sale of organic fruit is lower than that of organic vegetables. Two thirds of the consumer purchase of organic fruit and vegetables is accounted for by vegetables.

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