Canned vegetables remain a substantial part of the U.S. food supply, even as fresh and frozen formats gained share. USDA data shows that loss-adjusted canned-vegetable availability reached 43.3 pounds per person in 2005, while processing crops continued to operate at a large scale in 2025. The figures below put canned vegetables in context: how availability changed, which products led, what crops fed processors, where consumption occurred, and which households spent the most.
Contents
- How canned vegetables changed in the U.S. food supply
- Which canned vegetables led availability
- Recent processing supply
- The scale of major processing crops
- Where canned vegetables were consumed
- Who spent more on canned vegetables
How canned vegetables changed in the U.S. food supply
The USDA’s Canned Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the United States: A Report to the United States Congress compares the U.S. food supply from 1970 through 2005. Over that period, total vegetable availability increased 23%, while canned-vegetable availability increased 5%. In loss-adjusted terms, estimated canned-vegetable consumption increased 3%.
The canned category therefore grew, but more slowly than total vegetable availability. Its share of total U.S. vegetable availability fell from 30% in 1970 to 25% in 2005. Canned vegetables also declined as a share of processed vegetables, from 55% to 49% over the same period. These are availability measures rather than a current retail-sales series, and the comparison ends in 2005.
Other formats gained ground. Frozen vegetables rose from 13% of total U.S. vegetable availability in 1970 to 18% in 2005. Fresh vegetables rose from 46% to 48%. The long-term picture is a larger overall vegetable supply with canned vegetables still representing a meaningful share, but a smaller proportion of the total than in 1970.
The USDA reported total loss-adjusted canned-vegetable availability at 42.1 pounds per person in 1970 and 43.3 pounds in 2005. The pound figures and category shares describe national availability after estimated losses; they should not be read as a direct measure of the amount each person actually ate.
Which canned vegetables led availability
Tomatoes dominated the 2005 canned-vegetable profile. Loss-adjusted canned tomatoes provided 25.5 pounds per person, equal to 59% of canned-vegetable availability. The next largest categories were sweet corn at 5.3 pounds per person and 12%, chile peppers at 3.7 pounds and 9%, and snap beans at 2.0 pounds and 5%.
The remaining categories were much smaller. Other canned vegetables provided 1.9 pounds per person, or 4%. Pickles, identified in the USDA report as canned cucumbers, provided 1.3 pounds and 3%. Canned carrots provided 1.1 pounds and 3%, while mushrooms provided 0.7 pounds and 2%.
| Canned vegetable category | Pounds per person in 2005 | Share of canned-vegetable availability |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 25.5 | 59% |
| Sweet corn | 5.3 | 12% |
| Chile peppers | 3.7 | 9% |
| Snap beans | 2.0 | 5% |
| Other canned vegetables | 1.9 | 4% |
| Cucumbers, identified as pickles | 1.3 | 3% |
| Carrots | 1.1 | 3% |
| Mushrooms | 0.7 | 2% |
| Green peas | 0.6 | 1% |
| Potatoes | 0.6 | 1% |
| Cabbage, identified as sauerkraut | 0.5 | 1% |
| Asparagus | 0.1 | Less than 1% |
Green peas and potatoes each supplied 0.6 pounds per person and 1% of availability. Cabbage, identified as sauerkraut, supplied 0.5 pounds and 1%. Asparagus was the smallest listed category at 0.1 pounds per person, representing less than 1%.
These figures show why canned tomatoes matter so much in the overall category: the reported tomato amount was nearly five times the sweet-corn amount, and the tomato share alone exceeded the combined share of many smaller categories. The source’s loss-adjusted framing remains important, because the values represent estimated availability after losses rather than a package-count measure.
Recent processing supply
The USDA’s Vegetables 2025 Summary reports processing utilization for a broad group of U.S. vegetable crops in 2025. Tomato processing utilization totaled 11.6 million tons, the largest quantified processing figure in the supplied 2025 data. Sweet-corn processing utilization totaled 2.13 million tons.
Other major processing-utilization figures included 544,452 tons for cucumbers, 458,307 tons for snap beans, 271,422 tons for carrots, and 241,644 tons for pumpkins. Cabbage totaled 230,355 tons, while green peas totaled 233,153 tons.
| Crop | U.S. processing utilization in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 11.6 million tons |
| Sweet corn | 2.13 million tons |
| Cucumbers | 544,452 tons |
| Snap beans | 458,307 tons |
| Carrots | 271,422 tons |
| Pumpkin | 241,644 tons |
| Green peas | 233,153 tons |
| Cabbage | 230,355 tons |
The same USDA summary reported 115,315 tons of bell-pepper processing utilization and 115,038 tons of garlic. Chile peppers totaled 109,091 tons. Beet processing utilization was 73,440 tons, and squash totaled 65,176 tons.
Smaller reported processing-utilization totals included 30,780 tons for cauliflower, 13,217 tons for broccoli, and 9,585 tons for spinach. These 2025 figures describe crop utilization for processing; they do not state that every ton became a canned product. Processing can include multiple preserved or prepared formats, and the report’s category is broader than a retail canned-vegetable shelf.
The scale of major processing crops
The 2025 USDA summary also gives production, planted-area, and value indicators for several crops associated with vegetable processing. U.S. sweet-corn production totaled 58.2 million hundredweight, or cwt, in 2025, up 9% from 2024. Planted area was 379,400 acres, up 10% from 2024.
Tomato production totaled 248 million cwt in 2025, up 5% from 2024. Tomato planted area was 257,000 acres, down 4% from 2024. The combination of higher production and lower planted area is reported here as a year-over-year pattern; the supplied data does not explain the causes.
Cucumber production totaled 14.3 million cwt in 2025, up 28% from 2024. The 2025 U.S. carrot crop was valued at $2.02 billion, up 11% from 2024. Production, planted area, and crop value are different measures, so they should not be combined as though they were interchangeable estimates of canned output.
The processing-utilization numbers also illustrate the difference between crop scale and consumer availability. The historical USDA report measured loss-adjusted pounds available per person in 2005, while the 2025 summary measured tons utilized for processing and, for selected crops, production or planted acreage. Those series use different years, units, and concepts. A 2025 processing total cannot be used to update the 2005 per-person availability figure without additional data.
Where canned vegetables were consumed
The USDA report includes older survey-based estimates for consumption settings and demographic groups. The ketchup findings came from cited U.S. consumption studies covering 1994–1996 and 1998. Fast-food restaurants accounted for 34% of ketchup use, while restaurants with waiter service accounted for 15%.
The report also described geographic and population-group differences for tomato products. The U.S. West represented 22% of the population and consumed 25.6% of tomato sauce in the cited study. The West consumed 20.9% of tomato paste. The Black population represented 12.6% of the U.S. population and consumed 14.6% of ketchup and 5.8% of tomato juice in the cited study.
These are survey-based estimates from the periods identified above, not current national consumption shares. They also cover particular products such as ketchup, sauce, paste, and juice rather than every canned vegetable.
For canned carrots, the report estimated fresh-equivalent consumption at 1.55 pounds per U.S. person in 2006. At-home eating accounted for 86% of estimated canned-carrot consumption. Restaurants with waiter service accounted for 7%. The fresh-equivalent unit means the estimate is expressed on a fresh-product basis, so it should not be compared directly with a can’s drained weight.
Who spent more on canned vegetables
The USDA report used the 2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey to show differences in per-capita canned-vegetable spending. Spending was $6.70 for low-income households, $13.73 for middle-income households, and $17.06 for high-income households.
Regional figures were $8.85 in the Northeast, $8.08 in the Midwest, $14.95 in the South, and $13.74 in the West. By age of household head, per-capita spending was $7.42 among households with a head younger than 40, $11.35 when the head was aged 40–64, and $18.24 when the head was 65 or older.
Household composition showed another difference. Per-capita canned-vegetable spending was $8.22 for households with children and $17.02 for households without children. It was $17.76 for households with at least one adult aged 65 or older and $14.12 for households without a senior.
| 2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey group | Per-capita canned-vegetable spending |
|---|---|
| Low-income households | $6.70 |
| Middle-income households | $13.73 |
| High-income households | $17.06 |
| Northeast | $8.85 |
| Midwest | $8.08 |
| South | $14.95 |
| West | $13.74 |
| Household head younger than 40 | $7.42 |
| Household head aged 40–64 | $11.35 |
| Household head aged 65 or older | $18.24 |
The spending data is from 2004 and is not inflation-adjusted in the supplied figures. It should therefore be treated as a historical comparison of per-capita spending, not as a current price benchmark. Together with the availability data, it describes a category that was widely established in the U.S. food supply while showing clear differences by income, region, age, and household composition.
Sources
- Canned Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the United States: A Report to the United States Congress, USDA Economic Research Service.
- Vegetables 2025 Summary, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.