Horticulture representative body AUSVEG has released data showing that less Australians might be doing a weekly grocery shop but they are still managing to eat more fresh vegetables.

The study showed those who regularly visit the shops throughout the week instead of doing one large shop may be better off health wise. According to the research just one extra trip per week can increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables by 3.8 servings per week.

AUSVEG spokesperson Kurt Herman said that it was encouraging to see this group of shoppers investing in their health and wellbeing.

“Research has found that 80 per cent of Australians buy vegetables more than once a week, and nearly two thirds of all Australians go grocery shopping more than twice a week,” said Herman.

“Most Australians don’t have one big weekly grocery shop – instead they’re increasingly treating supermarkets as extensions of their fridges, only buying enough fresh produce for the next couple of meals to avoid wastage or buying too much for their needs,” Herman said.

Growth trend: ‘dinner kits’

The research from AUSVEG also identified ‘dinner kits’ as a potential new growth trend amongst Australian consumers. Dinner kits such as Hello Fresh and My Food Bag send subscribers a box full of ingredients and recipes weekly.

“The modern dinner kit is growing in popularity – it hits a sweet spot for consumers wanting convenience, wanting healthy options, wanting to be from-scratch cooks and wanting to reduce waste,” said spokesperson Herman.

“With these kits delivering fresh ingredients to consumers’ doorsteps, they present an excellent opportunity for Australian vegetable growers to get their high-quality produce to Australian shoppers,” Herman said.

AUSVEG’s latest study follows on from September 2015 findings which discovered that an increasing number of Australian shoppers are  buying vegetables from Aldi. Other recent research has also uncovered that Australian shoppers are now also buying more ‘convenience’ vegetables.

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