Driven in no small part by the ongoing demand for smoothie beverages, growth in the frozen fruit market in the United States continues unabated. Chicago-based market research firm IRI reports that overall retail sales climbed 4.8% to surpass $244 million during the 12-week period ending August 7, while units rose 3.8% to top 48.3 million and volume advanced 5.1% to exceed 75.6 million.
Private label products dominated sales in the retail freezer, accounting for almost $158.5 million in value (+7%) during the period, as volume advanced 5.1% to 75.6 million. Dole Packaged Foods ranked as the top brand, ringing up almost $32 million in sales (-7%) with volume of nearly 10.54 million (-10.1%), followed by Jasper Wyman & Son at $14.2 million in sales (+20%) and volume of over 3.9 million.
While the penetration rate of frozen fruit is relatively low at 32.7%, it has risen from 26.8% last year, according to Mark Murai, vice president of strategy and field operations for Placentia, California-based Sunrise Growers.
“The most popular are strawberries, followed by blueberries and berry mixes. Vegetable and fruit mixes and super-food smoothies are also very popular, so much so that lately they have grown by 270%,” Murai told conference attendees during the recently held Cibus Tec in Parma, Italy. “Sales of organic frozen fruit have grown by 37.1% this year alone.”
Sunrise Growers, a subsidiary of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-headquartered SunOpta Inc., is a major processor of conventional and organic IQF fruit supplied primarily to retail private label and foodservice customers in the United States. It maintains a global sourcing network and operates processing facilities in California, Kansas and Mexico that employ approximately 300 full-time and 2,000 seasonal workers.
