Landmark initiative is dedicated to leveraging best-in-class consumer insights to drive fresh fruit and vegetable consumption across Europe
Dole Koge in Copenhagen played to the official launch of Dole’s landmark Consumer Compass 2026 research project last week.
Dedicated to garnering practical insights into the drivers of consumer behaviour with respect to all things fresh produce, the initiative will cover 11 countries and sample some 10,000 European consumers, making it one of the most comprehensive and authoritative fresh produce research projects being conducted across the European marketplace. The results of Consumer Compass 2026 will be released to coincide with Fruit Logistica 2026.
“It is not only the expansive reach of the research that sets Consumer Compass apart, but also the depth of analysis applied,” Dole said. “Extensive secondary research, alongside deep dive stakeholder and thought leader engagement, complements the primary data collated to elicit more insightful, authoritative and ultimately actionable data.”
Produced in partnership with Kairos Future, Consumer Compass 2026 will be the fifth edition of this research and will build on the findings from three earlier reports.
The launch in Koge also saw the coming together of the first research working group, the body dedicated to defining the ambitions, parameters and key deliverables from this pioneering research. In attendance were commercial, marketing, sustainability, packaging and procurement personnel from across Dole’s operations in Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the UK, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands as well as representatives from Doles research partners.
Niels Klem Thomsen, CEO of Dole Nordic, commented: “Better serving the consumer begins with better understanding the consumer. In Dole, we are absolutely committed to meeting and exceeding consumers expectations and those of our customers.
“We believe wholeheartedly in the potential of our sector and we know that harnessing untapped opportunities across fresh produce requires ever greater alignment with consumers. So we are very much looking forward to constructively contributing to this pioneering research and sharing the results with our partners in produce across Europe in the months ahead.”
