Retail Report - Nov. 2

From the USDA National Retail Report:
TK: If you wonder what happened to the traditional field tomato and the growers who cultivate it, note that the USDA retail report shows that 4,054 stores had tomatoes on the vine on ad as of the Nov. 2 report, compared with only 554 stores with the plain "tomato" on ad. Here is the summary from the USDA newly minted report, which reflects a lot of work. The effort will be valuable if it can be sustained.

Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets 11/02 to 11/081

Pears top overall activity. Vegetables featured more prominently. As Halloween fell on a Wednesday, only a portion of ads focused on the celebration as a main theme. Many retailers
were running “stock up and save”, “fill your freezer”, 10 for $10, 50% off, and “buy one get one free” sales this week. Front page space was often dominated by meat items. However, bagged apples and citrus items were noted quite often on front page space as well. Thanksgiving dinner incentive promotions continue to be featured nationwide. Overall, there were more vegetable ads than fruit ads. However, with the exception of tomatoes on the vine, the top commodities featured this week were fruits. These included: pears, avocados, apples, and grapes. Several fruit items saw little to no feature activity. Significant declines were noted on cantaloupes and strawberries. A few fruit items were more prominently featured, including: avocados, grapes, mangoes, and pineapples. Several varieties of apples and pears continued to be featured as seasonal availability spiked. Other seasonally available fruits were also featured widely.
These included: cranberries, persimmons, pomegranates, and tangerines. Cranberries were included in the data portion of this report as a seasonal item and accounted for roughly 6 percent of all fruit ads this week. Vegetable ads declined slightly overall this week. However, notable increases were seen on a few items. These included: potatoes, zucchini, and sweet potatoes. Several seasonally available items in addition to those in this report were widely featured and included artichokes, brussel sprouts, various greens (such as collards and kale), and garlic.