Machines Help Meet Increasing Demand For Pre-Cut Produce

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The average American consumed three and a half more pounds of fresh fruit last year than the year before. The demand for vegetables is also increasing.

CBS 2's Vince Gerasole shows how machines are helping grocery stores meet the increasing demands.

Massive food processors can shred sweet potatoes and squash into pasta-like strands to cater to the increasing consumer demand to replace pasta.

"It's simulating spaghetti for those who want to go gluten-free," said Andy Karn of Kronen.

If you look around your grocery store you may notice a growing number of pre-packaged fresh fruits and vegetables. Millennials are leading the consumer charge, eating nearly three servings a day.

Luca Ascari's company is among the many displaying their food processing innovations in Chicago this week. They not only produce high volumes of fresh food, but they also cut down on labor.

"We can do melon, pineapple, watermelon," explained Luca Ascari of ABL S.p.A. "[The machines can do the] Peeling, chunking, and coring."

Ascarai says over the last 15 years, consumers have been asking for an increase in fresh cut fruits and vegetables. He explains that if there are less people touching the food during the process, there is less risk of contamination.

Consumer demands also create the need to grow more product faster.

According to Danielle Michaels of Plant Tape, more people are eating vegetables and there's less land to do it. With a shrinking labor market from rising prices and boarder issues, Plant Tape's agricultural tractors get vegetables into the ground faster.

"With three people, we go two acres an hour compared to conventional 15 to 17 an acre an hour," said Michaels. "The labor's just not there. It's a problem for every grower and every farmer out there. There's just not the people."

There are many factors fueling the pre-cut fresh produce trend, from busy work schedules to a sharp rise in vegans, which now make up 6% of the population.