Instant Census Blog

Many American consumers are on the quest to shop and eat healthy. Unfortunately, finding healthy items in grocery stores isn’t always easy and preparing healthy meals may be more time consuming and expensive. Retailers have picked up on the need to fix these inconveniences that come along with healthy eating. By working to combine the easiness of pre-made and pre-packaged foods, retailers are giving grab and go items a healthier reputation and consumers the convenience they crave.

In a recent study by Nielsen, the following trends were found in regards to American consumers’ pursuit to eat healthy:

• 66% say they eat healthier now than two years ago

• 64% try to buy healthier foods

• 63% say it’s a challenge to eat healthy

With 63% of consumers finding it a challenge to eat healthy, there certainly is a need for retailers to meet the demand.

One way of meeting consumers’ need for convenient healthy eating has been found in “Salad Kits.” By combing lettuce, dressing, and all your favorite toppings, these prepackaged goods are doing well with today’s shoppers. According to the report, packaged salads “accounted for $3.7 billion in sales in the 52 weeks ending in April 2, 2016, an increase of 8% from the previous year.” Of the prepackaged salad family, “complete salad kits are growing the most, generating $950 million in sales in the last year, up a whopping 31% from the previous year.” Prepackaged organic salads are also growing fast, seeing a 12% increase in sales over the past year.

Nielsen’s study went on to find that packaged goods containing the phrases, “made from vegetables/fruits,” “high in protein” and “high in fiber,” helped influence consumers’ buying decisions.

Nielsen’s complete data on packaged salad trends yielded the following results:

Via Image Nielsen

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