US: Dietary trends bring upsurge in cauliflower demand

Published Jan 20, 2021

Tridge summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has observed a surge in cauliflower farming and imports due to its increased popularity, particularly in response to low-carb and gluten-free diet trends. The farm value of the U.S. fresh cauliflower crop reached $466 million in 2019, with California being the leading producer. The consumption of fresh cauliflower has risen, alongside an increase in imports, primarily from Mexico, which accounted for nearly 60% of the frozen cauliflower imported into the U.S. in 2019. However, these imports are projected to decline by 10% in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

In response to rising culinary interest in cauliflower, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says, farmers have been growing more—and the nation has been importing more. A USDA outlook report noted that fresh cauliflower has enjoyed "several surges of popularity," beginning in the 1940s, when per capita availability peaked at 3.6 pounds per person. Beginning in the 1990s, USDA said, interest in fresh-market cauliflower waned. "Then, in 2015, interest began to soar until per capita availability reached 3 pounds per person in 2019," the report said. The upsurge in cauliflower has been driven by the popularity of low-carb and gluten-free dietary trends, USDA analysts said, noting that those trends had been "embraced and furthered" by food manufacturers that have introduced new products featuring fresh and frozen cauliflower. Cauliflower has become an ingredient in gluten-free products including pizza crusts, tortillas, crackers, chips, mac and cheese, bread, rice and others, the report ...

Source: Agalert