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Report
en_GB
Household budgets continue to be under pressure, with 80% of shoppers seeking deals when purchasing fruit and vegetables. Tight budgets limit fruit and vegetables choices for 57% of fruit/vegetables purchasers.
Canada
Fruit and Vegetables
simple
Canada Fruit and Vegetables Market Report 2026
"Tight budgets are limiting fruit and vegetable choices. Smart value accessibility, meal enablement, health benefit-led claims, and Canadian-grown will support sales."
Richard Caines, Senior Analyst, Insights - Food & Drink
Household budgets continue to be under pressure, with 80% of shoppers seeking deals when purchasing fruit and vegetables. Tight budgets limit fruit and vegetables choices for 57% of fruit/vegetables purchasers. This highlights the importance of tiered price architectures, as well as emphasizing the value of frozen, canned and imperfect fresh produce. Retailers need to make affordability and value a positive narrative, shifting promotions from deep discounting to smart value accessibility.
Aside from price, freshness, appearance and taste/flavour are the attributes most important in fruit and vegetable choices. 79% of Canadians agree that fresh produce quality affects their view of a store, while 25% of fruit/vegetables purchasers are encouraged by appealing in-store displays to buy more fruit and vegetables. This highlights the importance of making the fresh fruit and vegetables shine in-store.
Canadians aspire to eat healthily, but only 32% say they eat the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables daily. Nutrient/health claims increase purchase intent. 40% of purchasers of fruit/vegetables would be more likely to buy certain fruit/vegetables if they came with nutrition information, and 41% if health benefit information was given.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
Outlook for fruit and vegetables, including impact of consumer sentiment on choices
Key trends in recent launch activity and future product development opportunities
Purchasing of fruit and vegetables by storage type and whether loose/packaged
Importance of quality and provenance to choice of fruit and vegetables
Triggers for encouraging more buying, including health/nutrition information and ways to use/store
Impact of tight budgets on choices, and implications for the retailing of fruit and vegetables
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions for fruits and vegetables by format.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What you need to know
Outlook for fruit and vegetables
Opportunities
Move beyond generic healthy positioning with benefit-led claims
Shift from ingredient selling to meal enablement to grow baskets
Leverage climate-controlled greenhouse messaging to support Canadian-grown
THE MARKET
Canadian consumers and the economic outlook
Variations in price rises in fruit and vegetables test value perception
Graph 1: Consumer Price Index for food and fruit/vegetables, April 2025-April 2026
Canadian consumers are still worried about rising prices and the impact of tariffs
Strong interest in healthy eating
Sustainability messages need to focus on reducing waste
Graph 2: habits considered to make the biggest contribution to sustainability, 2025
THE CONSUMER
Fruit and vegetables purchasing
Fresh most widely purchased type of fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are staple purchases
Graph 3: types of fruits purchased in the past month, 2026
Graph 4: types of vegetables purchased in the past month, 2026
Fresh, loose vegetables are the top choice driven by importance of freshness
Younger generation placing more value on convenience
Graph 5: fruits and vegetables purchased in the past month, by generation, 2026
Quality and provenance
Elevate in-store produce to drive conversion and positive store perception
Graph 6: attributes important when deciding which fruit or vegetables to purchase, 2026
Use “Canadian grown” as a conversion and premium lever
Standardize “Canadian-grown” cues to scale visibility and sales impact
Leverage climate-controlled greenhouse messaging to support Canadian-grown demand
Health and nutrition
Nutrient/health claims increase purchase intent
Target those aspiring to healthier diets at the point of purchase
Fruit and vegetables can offer fibre benefits without the processing
Move beyond generic healthy positioning with benefit-led claims
Graph 7: benefits sought from healthy/better-for-you foods , 2026
Actively facilitate “variety-seeking” behaviour for more functional benefits
Elevate convenience to appeal to Gen Z
Recipe ideas and information
Recipe suggestions help to stimulate fruit/vegetable purchasing
Shift from ingredient selling to meal enablement
Use seasonality as a recipe inspiration engine
Simplify cooking to remove friction
Value and discounting
Tight budgets limiting fruit and vegetable choices
Clear case for tiered affordability architecture in fruit and vegetables
Graph 8: “tight budgets limit my fruit and vegetable choices”, by financial situation, 2026
Reinforce value beyond price in frozen and canned
Reframe storage as a value proposition
PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
Vegetables take the bigger share of launch activity
Graph 9: share of fruit and vegetables launches, by sub-category, 2021-26
Positive nutrition claims dominated by high/added fibre
Dip in economy launches, as premium claims increase
Graph 10: share of fruit and vegetables launches with an economy or premium positioning, 2021-26
Organic launches remain prominent in launch activity
Convenience claims featured on a third of fruit and vegetables launches
Increase in environmentally-friendly and sustainable claims
Graph 11: share of fruit and vegetables launches with environmentally-friendly and sustainable claims, 2021-26
Canadian greens include those grown using less water
Canadian provenance is a prominent marketing message
APPENDIX
Market definition
Fruits
Vegetables
The consumer
Consumer research questions
Consumer research methodology
Generations
Abbreviations
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