Who eats melon?


* In the last year melons were eaten on 251 million occasions, 93.5% of which were in the home. Consumption fell by 0.3%


* Most melon is consumed at the evening meal and is 133% more likely to feature at this occasion than other fruit.


* The over-45s account for almost two-thirds of consumption.



Growth of informal eating could give melon a boost

Snacks could provide an opportunity for melon because the fruit fulfils the main criteria for snack consumption (cold, hand-held, healthy, visible and portable).

Nearly 57% of melon is consumed at a main meal, but these formal occasions are in decline and there is a move towards informal meals such as snacking and lighter variants of main meal occasions. There has also been an 11.7% increase in melon packed in a lunchbox.

Could the more convenient formats be pushing melon into further meal occasions? Consumer trends show that more of our food choice is based on health and enjoyment. Melon shows strong signs of being able to capitalise on these trends - 56.8% is consumed for health reasons, which is a rise of 19.1%, ahead of total food growth and total fruit, which has grown by 8.3%.

Melon relies least on practicality drivers - only 12.3% is consumed for practical reasons and the area has shown no growth over the past year.

The average meal takes 19 minutes to prepare. The trend is for meals that take less time to cook and prepare and 48% of melon consumption is at meals that take less than 20 minutes to prepare.

Caroline Finn, TNS
Produced for The Grocer by TNS.

Year to May 2004. For more information call 01372 825770. Next week: canned beans