During 2020, Hort Innovation worked with research company Fiftyfive5 to provide the Australian horticulture sector access to regularly updated information about consumer attitudes and behaviours during the time of COVID-19 disruption, through Fiftyfive5’s Category and Consumer Impact Monitor.

Each week, this monitoring service provided an update on changes to consumer mindset, attitudes and behaviour from surveys with main grocery buyers from a representative panel of the Australian population, including information on the current and emerging commercial implications of these changes. Hort Innovation also secured tailored content for the fresh produce sector, including insights into fruit and vegetable consumption, snacking, meal preparation and more.

Through this project, Hort Innovation was able to provide weekly overviews of the data and insights for growers, highlighting particularly interesting and noteworthy trends, as well as Monthly snapshot articles provided by Fiftyfive5 (all available below).

At the conclusion of the project, Fiftyfive5 also delivered a final summary based on observations made, including the impact of COVID-19 on fresh produce consumption and what opportunities there are for the sector.

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the research and development levies listed below and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

• Onion Fund
• Potato – Fresh Fund
• Potato – Processing Fund
• Vegetable Fund