Locally Grown Foods Niche Cooks Up at $5 Billion as America Chows Down on Fresh!

New York, June 25, 2007 — Food safety issues and America’s awakening “green” culture are just a couple of the factors driving the surge in fresh and locally grown food sales, with locally grown foods expected to jump from approximately $4 billion in 2002 to $5 billion in 2007, according to Local and Fresh Foods in the U.S., a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts.

Based on the exponential growth of farmers’ markets, as well as retail and foodservice initiatives to add more local products to their merchandise mix and menus, Packaged Facts estimates that locally grown foods could turn into a $7 billion business by 2011.

Consumers, equating freshness with higher quality, are increasingly looking toward the perimeter departments of their local supermarkets for fresh foods, which not only include locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables, but fresh meats, seafood, dairy, and baked goods as well. According to the report, retail sales of fresh foods totaled $230 billion in 2005 and in 2006 fresh produce surpassed fresh meat as the top-selling department in perishables.

Not surprisingly, the success of local and fresh foods is reaching far beyond the aisles of the local supermarket.

“Restaurants, value channels such as drug stores and convenience stores, and even academic foodservice venues are tuning into the fresh and local consciousness that is taking hold in America,” said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts. “New trends, including “food miles,” “the Slow Food movement,” and even “locavores” who eat only locally grown foods, are just beginning to take root in the U.S. and we anticipate these and other trends will swiftly drive growth of local and fresh market foods.”

Local and Fresh Foods in the U.S. pinpoints and analyzes shifting trends in the marketplace for fresh and local foods, and identifies opportunities and strategies that suppliers, retailers, foodservice providers, and packaged goods marketers can use to protect and grow their businesses. It is available from Packaged Facts by visiting: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Local-Fresh-Foods-1421831. It is also available at MarketResearch.com.

About Packaged Facts
Packaged Facts, a division of Market Research Group, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer industries, including consumer goods, food and beverage, and demographics. For more information visit www.PackagedFacts.com, or contact Tom Ehart at 240-747-3014, or tehart@marketresearch.com.

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