Availability of Fruits and Vegetables in Selected Retail Groceries

Transcription

1 Pcp Availability of Fruits and Vegetables in Selected Retail Groceries Lane, Multnomah, Umatilla Counties ANDREA MACKEY JOY STOCKMAN IDA CECIL SUE JOINER MISCELLANEOUS PAPER 88 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION DECEMBER 1959 OREGON STATE COLLEGE CORVALLIS

2 Oregon contributing project to Western Regional Project, WM-26, "Factors Which Affect Consumer Purchase and Utilization of Fruits and Vegetables"

3 INTRODUCTION Fruits and vegetables, whether fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, are important to families from the viewpoint of obtaining nutritious, varied, and palatable meals. Consumer use of specific fruits and vegetables depends on many factors. Some of these are the availability of the desired product, its price and quality, storage facilities in the home, family likes or dislikes, knowledge of nutritive values and others. The extent to which specific fresh and processed fruits and vegetables are available to consumers is not known. Beside being of importance to the consumer who relies on local markets to supply family needs, information on availability would be of interest to the educator who plans a program of nutrition education, to the merchant in stocking his store and to growers, wholesalers and processors in production and marketing. The availability of fruits and vegetables in certain Lane, Multnomah and Umatilla County retail grocery stores was surveyed during 1957 and 1958 as part of a study in the Western Region to ascertain factors that affect consumer purchases. The counties included in the Regions.] sample were selected to be representative of the Region and were, therefore, not necessarily representative of the state in which they were located. The counties in which the study was conducted and the individual stores in each county which were surveyed were selected by Dr. Marilyn Dunsing, Assistant Professor of Home Economics and Assistant Home Economist, Experiment Station, and Dr. George A. Baker and Dr. Edward B. Roessler, Professors of Mathematics and Statisticians, Ekperimem Station, University of California, Davis. The preparation of the survey sheets and instructions for field workers and the editing and processing of the data were carried out under the direction of Dr. Jessie V. Coles, Professor of Home Economics and Home Economist, Experiment Station, University of California, Berkeley.

4 Availability of Fruits and Vegetables in Selected Retail Groceries Lane, Multnomah, Umatilla Counties Andrea Mackey, Joy Stockman Ida Cecil and Sue Joiner!' STORES SURVEYED The stores included in the study were located in three counties, Lane Multnomah and Umatilla. These counties were selected on the basis of (1) population, (2) number of retail food stores. and (3) sales volume of the food stores. The three counties combined represented 41.8 per cent of the state's populationg. They contained 43.1 per cent of the stalie's food stores and had 48.2 per cent.of the total sales volume for the state/. The selection of stores for detailed study of the availability of fruits and vegetables was on the basis of size of store, type of organization and lo cation. Nineteen stores in Lane County, 20 in Multnomah and 13 in Uhatilla County cooperated in the study. The composition of the sample of stores from the three counties is shown in Table 1. The stores included were large and small as indicated by number of equivalent full-time employees, rural and urban, and multi-unit and single unit. These stores were representative of the stores in each of the counties, the characteristics of which had been determined in a preliminary survey in which all the stores in Umatilla County, one-half of those in Lane County and one-sixth of those in Multnomah County were studied. Field workers assigned to each county visited each grocery store on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of the third or fourth week of a month fora period of one year, beginning in April, The availability of selected fresh fruits and vegetables was checked every other month. Canned, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables and canned and frozen juices were each checked three times during the- year. Included in the survey were twenty-one fresh fruits, twenty-five fresh vegetables, seventeen canned fruits, ten canned vegetables, seven canned juices, seven frozen fruits, ten frozen vegetables, five frozen juices, eight dried fruits and eight dried vegetables. The percentage availability which is shown in the tables indicates the percentage of stores surveyed which had the product at the time the field workers visited the store. 1 Home Economists, Home Economics Research Department. 2/ n Orego State Board of Census, Mimeo., Retail Trade Bulletin, R-137, 3/ 1954 Census of Business, U.S.D. Commerce, Bureau of Census, Washington, D.C.

5 FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Availability of Fresh Fruits During the late fall and winter months of November to March, most grocery stores surveyed offered food shoppers a choice of five fruits, including apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and bananas. Some stores also carried pears, and a few stores had limes. Although the proportion of stores carrying them changed somewhat, the same fruits could be purchased in the spring and summer months of May to September as well as in the fall and winter. The appearance of fresh fruits, other than the above-mentioned ones, in the stores was largely seasonal. For example, strawberries., watermelons, cantaloupes and other melons, though not found in any of the stores surveyed during the months of January and March, were found in some stores in May. At this time about two out of ten of the stores had watermelon, as many as six out of ten had cantaloupes and fewer than one in ten had other melons. As many as seven out of ten had strawberries. As the season advanced to July, the number of kinds of fresh fruits more than doubled. As many as eighteen different ones were offered in July. These were apricots, blueberries, boysenberries, sweet cherries, peaches, plums, raspberries, and tart red cherries in addition to the fruits already mentioned. Of the fresh fruits included in the survey, only pears and citrus fruits other than oranges, lemons, grapefruit and limes, were missing from stores it July. The percentage of stores having seasonal fruit varied according to the fruit, the month, and the county. In July, red tart cherries were offered by only five per cent of the stores surveyed. In comparison, apricots, plums, and peaches were carried by fifty to ninety per cent of the stores in July. Tangerines and citrus fruits other than grapefruit, lemons, limes and oranges were not found in the stores in any of the months during the survey. By September, some fruits had disappeared from the market. In spite of this, many stores still offered their customers a choice of thirteen different fresh fruits. In addition to apples, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, and lemons which shoppers could buy at all times, watermelons were found in more than twothirds of the stores and peaches and cantaloupes in more than three-fourths of the stores. Plums, pears, and melons other than cantaloupes and watermelons were less available in all counties, but could be found in one-third to twothirds of the stores. Limes were available in all counties, and blueberries were carried in one out of 12 stores in Umatilla County. The large number of fruits offered in July and September in a high proportion of stores dropped abruptly by November to the comparatively low selection characteristic of the winter months (Table 2). The stores surveyed in Lane and Multnomah Counties tended to have a somewhat larger assortment of fresh fruits than the stores surveyed in Umatilla County.

6 Availability of Fresh Vegetables Of the twenty-five vegetables included, seven were generally available in at least nine out of ten stores throughout the year in each of the counties surveyed. At all times shoppers could make selections from cabbage, carrots, celery, head lettuce, onions, potatoes and tomatoes (Table 2) In contrast with the limited appearance of most seasonal fruits in the markets, many fresh vegetables were found throughout the year. Thus, in addition to the seven vegetables listed above, nine other fresh vegetables were carried by at least some of the stores in all Seasons. Broccoli, squash, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes were most frequently offered. Food shoppers could also find spinach, bunched beets, romaine and other salad greens as well as mustard greens all year, although sometimes in very few stores. Corn-on-thecob had a long season, appearing in one out of twelve stores in Umatilla County as early as January, and being available in two-thirds or more of the stores in all counties in May, July, and September. One out of twenty of the stores surveyed in Lane County and one out Of three in Multnomah County had corn-on-thecob in November. More seasonal in their appearance on the market were asparagus, fresh peas and green beans. Fresh asparagus was offered by many of the stores in the spring months of March and May; from one-half to nine-tenths of the stores surveyed carried this vegetable. Except for Lane County in which one store out of twenty had asparagus in November, this vegetable was not found in any markets during the rest of the year. One-twelfth to one-third of the stores in each county had fresh peas during March, May and July. Green beans were found in some markets in all counties except. during January and March. However, they were generally offered by less than half of the stores. Chard, kale, and turnip greens were seldom found in the stores at any time. CANNED FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND JUICES Food shoppers could find A wide variety of canned fruits and vegetables and canned juices in a high proportion of the stores during the months of the survey. Since the availability of these products is much less seasona l than that of fresh fruits and vegetables, the data obtained from the surveys made in April, July and November were combined (Table 3). In at least nine out of ten stores, choices could be made from a selection of canned fruits which included: applesauce, apricots, red tart cherries, fruit cocktail, grapefruit sections, cling peach halves, freestone peach halves, bart lett pear halves, sliced pineapple, and grated pineapple. Somewhat less available, i.e. in seven out of ten stores, were sliced cling peaches, pineapple chunks, and purple plums. Among canned fruits, those offered least frequently to customers were blueberries, boysenberries, Royal Anne cherries, raspberries and strawberries. The proportion of stores having these canned fruits on hand was sometimes as low as forty to fifty per cent. As fresh fruit, however, many of these were seldom found in the stores.

7 In comparison with fresh fruits, of which only six or seven were carried by the stores during the late fall and winter months, ten canned fruits were found in seventy per cent or more of the stored. Five others were found in approximately fifty per cent and two were stocked by approximately forty per cent of the stores. Of the ten canned vegetables included in the survey, Seven could be puner chased in ninety per cent or more of the stores at the time of the survey. These were asparagus, green beans, beets, corn, peas,spinach, and tomatoes. Wax beans were carried by fewest stores, four out of ten in Umatilla County, seven out of ten in Multnomah and seven out of eight in Lane County. Canned sweet potatoes were found in ninety-five per cent of the stores in Lane, all the stores in Multnomah and fifty-five per cent of the stores in Umatilla County. Fewer stores had canned lima beans than sweet potatoes. Nearly all stores provided several kinds of canned juices for selection by their customers. Mixed vegetable juice was least available, yet was found in three out of four stores. Apple juice, grape juice, and a combination of grapefruit and orange juice were carried by eight out of ten stores. grapefruit juice, orange juice and tomato juice were found in nearly All the stores, i.e. in at least ninety-five per cent. FROZEN FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND JUICES The availability of frozen fruits and vegetables is much less seasonal than that of fresh. The data obtained from surveys made in May, August and January were combined (Table lb). Consumers could obtain frozen orange juice, lemonade and sliced strawberries in ninety to one hundred per cent of the retail grocery stores surveyed in the three counties. Sliced peaches, pineapple chunks and red raspberries, as well as grape, grapefruit, and pineapple juices were also generally available, though the percentage of stores stocking them varied among counties. These frozen fruits and juices were found in six to nine out of ten of the Lane County stores surveyed, in five to nine of the Multnomah County stores and in one out of eight for peaches to five out of ten for red raspberries and grape juice in the stores surveyed in Umatilla County. Frozen boysenberries and grapefruit sections were noted principally in Multnomah County surveys. The frozen-vegetable assortment offered consumers was greater than that of fruit. Asparagus, both green and lima beans, broccoli, corn, peas, french fried potatoes, spinach and mixed vegetables were noted in ninety per cent of the surveys made in Lane and Multnomah Counties. A slightly lower percentage of stores carried these frozen vegetables in Umatilla County. Potato patties and squash were somewhat less available, maximum offerings being in Lane and Mult nomah Counties, where seven to eight out of ten stores surveyed carried these frozen items.

8 DRIED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES The availability of dried fruits and vegetables is less seasonal than that of fresh. The data obtained from surveys made in June, September and March were combined (Table 5). Consumers could find seedless raisins and prunes in ninety-two to ninetyeight per cent of the stores surveyed in each county. Apricot halves, dark figs, peach halves, and seeded raisins were also carried by many stores although in a lower percentage. Dried apples and applesauce were more limited in offerings although Lane County surveys listed seventy-five per cent carrying dried, sliced apples and sixty per cent dried applesauce Dried pears were least available, being found in only twenty per cent of the Multnomah County stores and five per cent of the Lane County stores surveyed. Food buyers had a choice of at least four varieties of dried beans in most of the retail grocery stores surveyed. Lima, pinto, red kidney and white beans could be found in eighty to one hundred per cent of the stores surveyed. Pink and garbanzo varieties were in more limited supply. Split peas and instant potatoes were available in eighty-three to onehundred per cent of the stores surveyed in Lane and Multnomah Counties. In Umatilla County supplies of instant potatoes and dried pink beans were more limited than in the other counties. SUMMARY In summary, food shoppers could find as many as nineteen fresh, seventeen canned, six frozen and eight dried fruits, and twenty-five fresh, ten canned, ten frozen and eight dried vegetables as well as seven canned juices and five frozen juices in the grocery stores surveyed in Lane, Multnomah and Umatilla Counties. Nearly all stores, at least nine out of ten, offered the following fruits and vegetables at all times the surveys were made. Fruits, - fresh: apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons and bananas; canned: applesauce, apricots, red tart cherries, fruit cocktail, grapefruit sections, cling peach halves, freestone peach halves, Bartlett pear halves, sliced pineapple and grated pineapple; canned fruit juices: grapefruit juice, and orange juice; frozen: strawberries; frozen juices: lemonade, and orange juice; dried: prunes and seedless raisins. Vegetables, - fresh: cabbage, carrots, celery, head lettuce, onions, potatoes and tomatoes; canned: asparagus, green beans, beets, corn, peas, spinach and tomatoes; canned vegetable juice: tomato; frozen: asparagus, green beans, lima beans, broccoli, corn, peas, french fried potatoes, spinach and mixed vegetables; dried: lima beans and dried red kidney beans.

9 Store offerings of five fresh fruits and seven fresh vegetables were similar at all seasons, but eleven out of the twenty-one fresh fruits surveyed and nixie out of the twenty-five vegetables were especially seasonal in their appearance and disappearance from the stores. Canned, frozen and dried items were less seasonal. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Grateful appreciation is extended to the owners and. managers of the retail grocery stores who cooperated by allowing field workers to collect data in their stores. It is the hope of the authors that the data obtained will be interesting and helpful to them.

10 LANE COUNTY Table 1. Composition of Sample of Retail Grocery Stores Included in the Survey of Availability of Fruits and Vegetables. Total number of sur veya Number Fresh Canned Frozen Dried of (every (April, (MaY, (June, Classification stores other July, August, September, of stores surveyed month) November) January) March) Total 57 Size (no. of equivalent full-time employees) or more Type of organization Multi-unit Single-unit, unaffiliated Single-unit, affiliated Location of store Rural Urban MULTNDMAH COUNTY Total n n n n Size (no. of equivalent full-time employees) 24 2) or more Type of organization Multi-unit 6 Single-unit, unaffiliated 9 Single-unit, affiliated 5 Location of store Rural 5 Urbana In some months, 19 stores were surveyed. 7

11 Classification of stores Table 1. continued Total number of sur f eys Number Fresh Canned Frozen Dried of (every (April, (May, (June, stores other july, August? September, surveyed month) November) January) March. UMATILLA COUNTY Total Size (no. of equivalent full-time employees) or more Type of organization Multi-unit Single-unit, unaffiliated Single-unit, affiliated Location of store Rural Urban / In some months, 12 stores were surveyed.

12 FRUITS: Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables LANE COUNTY Percentage availability Product May July September November January March Apples Apricots 78.9 Bananas 89.5 Blueberries 47.4 Boysenberries 42.1 Cantaloupes Ow Cherries, red tart 5.3 Cherries, sweet 47.4 Citrus (other than those listed) Grapefruit Lemons Limes Melons (other than cantaloupes and watermelons) Oranges Peaches Pears Plums Raspberries 36.8 Strawberries Tangerines Watermelons V= WO

13 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued MULTNOMAH COUNTY Percentage availability Product May July September November January March FRUITS: Apples o 90.0 Apricots 80.0 n Bananas Oml ONO Blueberries 15.0 Boysenberries 30.0 Cantaloupe tom NM Cherries, red tart NM Mg 10 Cherries, sweet 1M IMO 30.0 am I. Citrus (other than those listed) Grapefruit Lemons Limes Melons (other th9n cantaloupes and watermelons) Oranges Peaches Pears Plums Raspberries 6o.o Strawberries Tangerines Watermelons

14 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) nn n n n nn n Product FRUITS: Apples 69.2 UMATILLA COUNTY Percentage availability Jul Se tember November Janu March Apricots 69.2 Bananas Blueberries Boysenberries 38.5 Cantaloupe _ - Cherries, red tart Cherries, sweet 23.1 Citrus (other than those listed) Grapefruit Lemons loo.o Limes Melons (other than cantaloupes and watermelons) Oranges L Peaches Pears Plums Raspberries 30.8 Strawberries Tangerines Watermelons

15 VEGETABTAS: Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) LANE COUNTY Percentage availability Product May July September November January March Asparagus Beans, green Beets, bunched and/or topped Broccoli Cabbage, white Carrots, bunched and/or topped Cauliflower Celery, bunch Celery hearts, packaged Chard 94.7.tON Corn-on-cob Endive Kale Lettuce, head Other lettuce Mustard greens Onions, dry Peas Potatoes, white mature bulk and/or packaged Romaine

16 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) LANE COUN'T'Y continued VEGETABLES: (continued) Salad greens (other than those listed) Spinach, bulk and/or packaged Squash Sweet potatoes yams and/or light yellow Tomatoes, bulk and/or packaged Turnip greens 13

17 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued MULTNOMAH COUNTY,r7 1 VEGETABLES: Product Percentage availability July September November January March Asparagus Beans, green Beets, bunched and/or topped Broccoli Cabbage 95.0 Carrots, bunched and/or topped Cauliflower o 89.5 Celery, bunch Celery hearts, packaged Chard Corn-on-cob Endive Kale Lettuce, head 95.0 Other lettuce Mustard greens Onions, dry o Peas Potatoes, white mature bulk and/or packaged L Romaine o

18 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) MMTNOMAN COUNTY (continued) Percentage availability Product July September November January March VEGETABLES: (continued) Salad greens (other than those listed) Spinach, bulk and/or packaged 55.o Squash 6o.o 6o.o Sweet potatoes yams and/or light yellow Tomatoes, bulk and/or packaged Turnip greens

19 Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) UMATILLA campy' Product Percentage availability Jxi Se tember November Janua March VEGETABLES: Asparagus Beans, green , Beets, bunched and/or topped Broccoli Cabbage Carrots, bunched and/or topped Cauliflower , Celery, bunch Celery hearts, packaged Chard 7.7 Corn-on-cob Endive Kale Lettuce, head Other lettuce Mustard greens Onions, dry Peas n n n 15.4 Potatoes, white mature bulk and/or packaged _ Romaine _

20 VEGETABLES: Table 2. Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (continued) UMATILLA COUNT/ (continued) Percentage availtibilit. Product May' July September November (January_ March Salad greens (other than those listed) 7.7 a. nos Spinach, bulk and/or packaged Squash Sweet potatoes yams and/or light yellow Tomatoes, bulk and/or packaged Turnip greens

21 FRUITS: Table 3. Availability of Canned Fruits, Vegetables and Juices Percentage availability Product LANt MULTNOMAH UMATILLA Applesauce Apricots, halves.../ 6 / 94.7 Blueberries Boysenberries Cherries, dark sweet Cherries, red tart Cherries, Royal Ann Figs, white Fruit cocktail 97.4 Grapefruit, sections grapefruit, broken pieces Peaches, Cling halves Peaches, Cling sliced Peaches, Freestone halves Y Pears, Bartlett halves Y 89.5 Pineapple, sliced Y 94.7 Pineapple, chunks or tidbits Pineapple, grated or crushed Plums, purple Raspberries, red Strawberries _Cy Substitutes in form, size and/or color permitted. 18

22 Table 3. Availability of Canned Fruits, Vegetables and Juices (continued Percentage availability Product LANE MULTNOMAH UMATILLA VEGETABLES: Asparagus, green spears Beans, green, cut 6/ Beans, green, French cut 86.o 89.8 Beans, green, whole 8) Beans, wax Beans, lima, green.w Beets, diced / Corn, yellow, whole kernel Y Peas, sweet or early June Potatoes, sweet, whole 94.7 Spinach 98.2 Tomatoes, solid pack JUICES: Apple juice )4-.9 Grape juice Grapefruit juice 98.2 Mixed vegetable juice Orange juice Orange and Grapefruit juice Tomato juice loo.o / Substitutes in form, size and/or color permitted.

23 Table 4. Availability of Frozen Fruits and. truices Percentage availa ility Product LANE MtTLTNOMAlt UMATILLA FRUITS: Apricot, halves Boysenberries Grapefruit, sections Peaches, sliced Pineapple, chunks / Raspberries, red Strawberries, sliced / FRUIT JUIOBS: Grape juice Grapefruit juice Lemonade Orange juice Pineapple juice / Substitutes in form, size and/or color permitted. 20

24 Table 4. Availability of Frozen Fruits, Vegetables, and Juices (continued VEGETABLES: Product Percentage availability LAM MULTNOMAH UMATILLA Asparagus, green, spears Beans, green, cut 6/ Beans, green, French cut Beans, lima, large 6/ Beans, lima, baby Broccoli, spears 6/ Broccoli, chopped Corn, yellow, whole kernel 6/ Mixed vegetable Peas, green Potatoes, French fried Potato patties Spinach, chopped 6/ Spinach, leaf Squash o o / Substitutes in form, size and/or color permitted. 21

25 FRUITB: 'able. A ailabili P). it*. Product Percentage vailab ilit LANE MULTNOMAH UMATILLA Apples ) sliced Applesaude Apricots, halves Figs, dark Peaches ) halves Pears, lied Prunes 93.o Raisins seeded Raisins, seedless VEGETABLES: Beans, garbanzo lima pink pinto red or kidney white Peas, split Potatoes, instant