The National Watermelon Promotion Board has released comprehensive research showing watermelon now reaches 75% of all U.S. households, with the category adding 7 million new purchasing households since 2021. These new buyers helped generate $782 million in incremental purchases, pushing total category purchases to $3.2 billion—representing a 33% increase over the period. The study, Omnichannel Strategies for Watermelon Category Growth, provides marketers with actionable insights into channel dynamics, purchase behaviors, and evolving shopper demographics that are reshaping the category.
Industry partners now have a clear roadmap for growing watermelon sales across retail channels, according to Mark Arney, Executive Director for the NWPB. Grocery remains the leading retail channel for watermelon, but Mass, Club, and Online channels are seeing new shoppers and growing at faster rates. The industry can strengthen omni-channel engagement by adapting marketing and merchandising strategies across these formats. The Club channel has become particularly important, with merchandising tactics that boost volume per trip representing a key opportunity.
Watermelon growth is strong among smaller, higher-income, younger and more diverse households, while engagement among older households is also rising. Marketers and retailers can balance efforts between loyal Heavy shoppers and these emerging segments. To help industry stakeholders capitalize on these opportunities, the NWPB has released a companion Marketing Guide designed to help translate channel and demographic trends into actionable steps.
This study builds on NWPB's initiative to invest in research that helps the industry grow the watermelon category, including the Watermelon Attitudes and Usage and Watermelon Shopper Segmentation studies. The complete research study and companion Marketing Guide are available at https://www.watermelon.org/audiences/industry/research/retail-research/. Watermelon consumption in the United States reached nearly 5.3 billion pounds in 2024, with consumption per capita at roughly 15.6 pounds. The nutrient-dense fruit provides an excellent source of Vitamin C and contains only 80 calories per 2-cup serving while being 92% water. For additional information about watermelon trends and research, visit https://www.watermelon.org.
