Abstract
While online grocery shopping has been rapidly expanding over the last several years, online sales of fresh produce have lagged far behind. One of the most significant contributing factors for this lag is the consumer’s inability to assess the quality of produce online. We hypothesized that this could be alleviated by machine vision technology. This study examines perceived sensory attributes derived from digital images of fresh fruits and compares them with sensory attributes obtained from the actual fruit. Digital images of fresh strawberries, cherry tomatoes, grapes, and blueberries were acquired using a high-resolution digital camera. Consumer panelists evaluated the appearance, texture, flavor, overall eating quality, and also determined purchase decision. Panel sizes ranging from 32 to 40 members (a total of 147) also conducted in situ evaluations of the different fruits. The paired t-test indicated that the mean results between pairs of image scores and in situ evaluation scores were statistically insignificant. The scores obtained for texture and overall eating quality showed some variability, but the scores for quality appearance were remarkably consistent revealing no difference across the evaluations of the various commodities. The results demonstrated that digital images can be utilized to effectively relay the appearance attributes of fresh produce. This finding is relevant for the industry, as the appropriate construction of real time images can help to build consumers’ trust in the quality of e-deliveries, nudge consumers to purchase fruits and vegetables, and increase the overall e-commerce acceptance for fresh produce. A discussion of the limitations and opportunities for improving the effectiveness of digital sensory analysis of fresh produce is provided.
Highlights
During the last few years, the adoption of grocery shopping online has been accelerating worldwide
Each consumer panelist generated a pair of sensory evaluation scores for a sample: one on the real sample [‘real score’], and another on the image of the corresponding sample
The biggest barrier to online shopping for fresh produce is the inability of consumers to evaluate the actual appearance of the products
Summary
During the last few years, the adoption of grocery shopping online has been accelerating worldwide. The. COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed online sales, reaching USD 106 billion in 2020. It was reported that the online grocery sales increased by 300% [2,3]. The adoption of online shopping of fresh produce has been much slower than that of overall groceries. E-commerce involving fresh produce increased significantly during the pandemic. It has continued to lag behind the overall growth profile of online grocery shopping [6]. In 2018, up to 46% of surveyed consumers expressed having shopped for groceries online, but only 10% of them bought fresh produce [7]
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