- Florida Researchers Conduct
Nationwide Sweet Corn Survey
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- By Karen Gentry
Managing Editor
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- Although virtually all sweet corn is consumed during the summer months, a group of growers in Florida, Georgia and Alabama hope to change that.
According to a consumer survey coordinated by the University of Florida’s Agricultural Market Research Center in Gainesville, Fla., consumers simply don’t think sweet corn is available in the spring, summer and fall.
“Florida is one of the major producers of sweet corn during the fall, winter and spring months,” said Bob Degner, professor and director of ag research center. Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 consumers in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia—cities selected for their geographic and ethnic diversity.
There was not that much of a difference in sweet corn consumption at different income levels and educational levels, Degner said. “We did find a higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics that bought during the fall, winter and spring months,” he said.
The research center was commissioned by the Fresh Supersweet Corn Council for the survey. The southern, sweet corn promotion group has been around for nearly 40 years, according to Degner.
By July 4, when Midwestern growers are just starting to sell sweet corn, Florida growers are wrapping up.
“The varieties that have been adopted by producers in the south are so improved from several decades ago. The sugar content is much higher and the shelf life much higher,” Degner said.
Although there are only 20 to 25 sweet corn growers in Florida, most are large growers. Florida growers produce more than 500 million pounds of fresh sweet corn on more than 38,000 acres, generating revenues of more than $105 million.
- University of Florida Survey
- Through the survey, researchers found that in the fall, winter and spring months there tends to be smaller displays for sweet corn, with a lot of prepackaged products. In comparison in the summer there are a lot of bulk and freestanding displays, according to Degner.
Of the 1,031 households that were interviewed, 67.7% bought sweet corn at least once a year. Among non-consumers the most cited reason for not buying fresh sweet corn was that they did not like the taste. Twenty-two percent of non-consumers were concerned with the amount of preparation time or inconvenience, and an additional 7% thought that fresh sweet corn was too messy. According to the survey results, price was not an important consideration for non-buyers, as only 3% mentioned that the price was too high as a reason not to buy fresh sweet corn.
The proportion of sweet corn buyers increased with education, income, household size and number of children. Middle-aged consumers were found to be more likely to buy sweet corn than young or retirement-age consumers. Only 56% of the respondents in the 18 to 34 age group bought sweet corn, as compared to 82% of those in the 50-64 age group.
Virtually all households consuming fresh sweet corn purchased it in the summer, but only 36% bought in the winter. When respondents were asked why they didn’t buy during the winter, spring and fall seasons, the overwhelming majority said that it was not available where they usually shop for produce.
Only 16.5% of those who bought fresh sweet corn indicated a preference for any specific variety. Significant differences in color preference were found to be associated with respondents’ location, race and income. Consumers in Dallas and Chicago expressed strong preferences for yellow corn (62%) while those in Philadelphia showed a marked preference for white corn (52%) over yellow corn (39%). Consumers’ preference for yellow corn decreases as their income levels rise. The most important reason given for any color preference was perceived superior taste.
Yellow corn buyers frequently mentioned “habit” as one reason, which was not an important reason mentioned by buyers who purchased other colors. Color was important to those buying bicolor corn (21%) and yellow corn (18%).
Overall, nearly 75% of fresh sweet corn consumers prefer to purchase it “loose” or in bulk and unshucked. Sixteen percent of respondents preferred to purchase fully-shucked and pre-packaged fresh sweet corn, while about 9% preferred a partially-shucked, pre-packaged product.
Only 7% of all fresh sweet corn buyers had ever received any information about the availability, nutritional qualities or cooking methods for fresh sweet corn.
- Survey Recommendations
- • Promote microwave cooking and ready-to-cook products.
• Direct promotion efforts toward converting younger shoppers into life-long consumers. Good value promotions could be directed toward smaller and lower-income households.
• Preferences among consumers for yellow, white and bicolor fresh sweet corn vary by race, location and income. Promotional efforts and distributional plans should incorporate these differences.
• As consumers are generally unaware of differences in fresh sweet corn varieties, particularly “supersweet” varieties, more should be spent on producing television stories, news releases for newspapers, consumer magazine feature stories and a Web site.
