Australian fruit and vegetable growers have been warned by a visiting US horticulture expert that while the quality of their produce is “better than ever before”, the demands of the average consumer now starts at “perfection”.
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In Australia this month to meet with local growers, Rabobank’s California-based senior fruit and vegetable analyst Dr Roland Fumasi said the list of qualities that buyers were looking for in fresh produce continued to grow and had changed markedly in recent years.
“Consumers now expect the quality of their fruit and veg to be 100 per cent perfect, 100 per cent of the time,” Dr Fumasi said.
“They expect it to taste amazing, look good and to be extremely convenient and they want this all year-round. And that is just the starting point.”
Dr Fumasi said to gain customer loyalty, growers had to appeal to the deep-seated values of consumers.
“When you look at the buying habits of the middle-class consumer, not only do they now want a high-quality product.”
