Harvest to Home, funded by Hort Innovation, is an interactive online dashboard that provides users with up-to-date retail information and consumer trend data on a range of vegetable commodities on a single platform.

All of the data is provided by Nielsen and is collated through their Homescan® service, a continuous panel of 10,000 Australian households.

The dashboard’s latest COVID-19 fresh produce update analyses the four weeks leading up to 4 October 2020 versus the same period year ago:

• Overall grocery sales still strong, at 10.6% higher than the same four week period last year.
• Vegetables growth maintained. Volume up 9.2% in the September/October period compared to previous year. Potatoes, onions and broccoli are driving growth.
• Fruit growth weaker .Volume down 4.4% in September/October period compared to previous year. Lower volumes of melons, avocados and grapes.
• The majority of fresh produce growth came from Victoria. Victoria made up most of the volume produce growth compared to the same period last year.
• Strong prepack growth. Prepack volume change of 20.4% for fruit and 6.9% for vegetables in major supermarkets in September/October compared to same period last year.
• Increase in vegetables driven by rising volume per occasion. Maintained at 1.8kg per occasion, versus 1.6kgs in February.
• Higher prices. Increases of 3% for veg and 13.9% for fruit compared to same time of the previous year.
• Major supermarkets have returned to pre-COVID share of trade levels – now sitting at 75.2% of fresh produce trade, up from a low of 70.3% in April.

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the MT17017 Vegetable Cluster Consumer Insights Program & the MT17015 Consumer Behavioural and Retail Data for Fresh Produce research and development levies, and contributions from the Australian government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.