Children an Untapped Market for Produce: PMA

Feb 27, 2007 3:00 AM

NEWARK, Del. -- Nearly two-thirds of families with children don‘t eat their five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and that consumption gap represents a big opportunity for the U.S. produce industry, according to new consumer research by Opinion Dynamics, sponsored by the Produce Marketing Association here. Almost 90% of respondents said it was somewhat or very important to make produce consumption fun for kids. Over two-thirds said that cartoon characters on packaging could help achieve that goal, but about 25% of respondents disagreed with those marketing tactics. Sixty-one percent of survey participants said that parental encouragement was the most effective way to get kids to eat produce regularly, but 70% said they didn‘t have time each day to make sure they were providing all of those servings of fruits and veggies.