Retail report

I walked into HyVee tonight and I saw a giant display of Stemilt red delicious at 99 cents per pound. I've noted that Stemilt can fill up the apple category, with diverse varieties featured and plenty of Stemilt signage. Meanwhile, the USDA's National Fruit and Vegetable Report was released again today. It showed pears accounted for 20% of retail fruit ads and asparagus comprised about 13% of all vegetable ads.

Here is the summary of what the USDA found this week:

Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets 10/26 to 11/01
Pears top overall activity. Vegetables featured more prominently.
This week retailers placed emphasis upon the upcoming Halloween celebration. Retailers were actively promoting party items for the holiday including baked goods, candy, costumes, and other non-produce items. Seasonal items in the produce department being featured included: apple cider, caramel/candy apples, persimmons, pomegranates, pumpkins,
and a variety of hard squash. Retailers continue to highlight Thanksgiving dinner incentive programs. Vegetables were a bigger competitor for ad space despite fruits continuing to be featured heavily. The top featured items among all commodities were: pears, asparagus, apples, avocados, and tomatoes on the vine. As the California marketing season winds down, red and green seedless grapes continue to see a decline in activity. Features on strawberries declined drastically. Asparagus activity jumped considerably this week, launching it into the top five promoted commodities. Fruit ads continue to be the focus of many retailers. Several varieties of domestic apples and pears were featured throughout the country corresponding to a spike in seasonal supply. As there is a seasonal influence in the market at this time, a few year round items such as strawberries were featured less. Vegetable ads were featured more prominently this week. Notable increases were seen on round green beans, onions, and green bell peppers. There were many organic vegetable ads noted and included: cauliflower, celery, broccoli by the pound, and sweet potatoes.