But there’s more to the evolution of consumption: from the vantage point of an “expert” player like Mioorto, it emerges that fresh-cut produce responds to the same need that has made the deli counter central in retail outlets: offering convenience and time-saving to the consumer.

The similarities are clear: ready-to-use product, service built into the product, a response to the new and ever-faster lifestyles—but there’s also a substantial difference: the deli counter offers food that’s already prepared or cooked, while fresh-cut produce keeps the product fresh and natural, limiting itself to operations such as washing, cutting, and packaging.

Fresh-cut produce thus becomes a “deli counter of fresh food,” where value doesn’t come from kitchen transformation, but from the service applied to the agricultural product—providing an interesting model of how changing lifestyles and the response offered by process innovation are redefining the value of fresh produce in retail.