More Australians are buying more pumpkins more often, according to the latest Nielsen consumer research, which shows that shoppers are taking advantage of lower retail prices over the past six months.
Nielsen Homescan data, taken from 10,000 geographically and demographically representative Australian households, shows that while Australian consumers are buying more pumpkin more frequently, they’re spending less per occasion, reflecting a declining trend in prices.
Project Harvest, another consumer and market research project funded by the vegetable industry, has found that the average price of butternut pumpkins has dropped from $3.23 per kilo in October 2014, to $2.60 per kilo in May this year.
The study has also identified that consumers are beginning to appreciate the increasing value for money they get out of pumpkin.
Kurt Hermann, spokesperson for AusVeg, said despite consumers buying more pumpkin by volume every time they shop this year, consumers are spending about 12 per cent less.
“Interestingly, while the price has dropped consistently since October, it’s only in this latest round of surveys that we’re seeing consumers actually feel like they’re getting increased value for money,” Hermann said.
Australians usually buy more pumpkin as the weather gets colder, however, the trend is particularly pronounced this year, with more than 68,000 more households buying pumpkin than the same time last year.
