A different approach to marketing fruit and vegetables is being trialled to change perceptions around affordability, with a goal of increasing consumption
Two Victorian universities have collaborated with a supermarket chain for a trial of per-serve pricing on fresh fruit and vegetables.
The trial aims to show consumers how much an individual serving costs, rather than just per kilogram pricing, with the aim of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.
Monash Business School researchers and Deakin University have teamed up with Melbourne independent grocers Ritchies Supermarkets for the per-serve pricing tool.
“Per kilogram pricing doesn’t communicate how much is needed for a healthy serve,” Monash Business School lead researcher and associate professor Fiona Newton says.
“If shoppers overlook this aspect, the purchase may not seem like good value for money, which could flow on to their purchase decisions.
“For example, green beans priced at $12.99 per kilogram may initially seem steep. However, this perception may change when shoppers see that the cost of a single 75g serve is only $0.97.”
The trial was inspired by ABS data which revealed only 6.5 per cent of Australian adults eat the recommended number of vegetable serves, with more than half of adults also eating less than the recommended fruit servings.
Evidence linking affordability perceptions to fruit and vegetable consumption led researchers to question whether only using per-kilogram pricing was best.
This per-kilogram pricing shows shoppers what it would cost to purchase 13.3 serves of vegetables or 6.67 serves of fruit, Newton says.
The trial took place in one store, with four additional comparison stores selected with similar transaction volumes, prices, and affluence group share.
Introducing per-serve pricing information led to an increase in loose fresh vegetable purchases, the trial found.
“Per serve pricing offers consumers a straightforward way to gauge how much it will cost to meet their daily vegetable and fruit servings,” Newton says.
“We found adding per serve pricing increased loose vegetable purchases by 6.2 per cent, while fruit saw no significant impact.”
Australia’s standard vegetable serve is 75g, while a serve of fruit is double the size at 150g.
This could have implications on value for money, the researchers believed, which prompted another per-serving price trial in the UK where both fruit and vegetable servings are standardised at 80g.
A follow-up online study involving 803 UK adults found that per-serve pricing cues significantly increased both vegetable and fruit purchase intentions.