National Retail Report - Dec. 14

As per usual, I note the USDA's National Retail report. The report notes much of the promotion activity was imported produce, including blueberries, pineapples and avocados. And sweet potatoes were big. From the report:


Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets
12/08 to 12/201, 2
Ads focus on Holidays and entertaining.
Holiday ads were in full swing this week as retailers promoted a huge variety of items throughout the store. The main focus of the majority of ads was meat with several different types of roasts being featured for Christmas dinner. Holiday baking staples commanded a large portion of ad space this week with some ads featuring entire sections devoted to these
types of items. In addition, holiday entertaining items such as party trays, specialty cheeses, candies, wines, and catering options were highlighted. Non-food holiday items were also featured widely and included an array of general merchandise and decorative items.
Poinsettias, mini Christmas trees and floral bouquets and centerpieces were among the most prevalent. Overall, this week, there were more fruit than vegetable ads. The top 5 featured items were: blueberries, grape tomatoes, avocados, pineapple, and Clementines. As was the case last week, the majority of these were imported products. Often alongside blueberries, many retailers featured other imported berries such as blackberries and raspberries. A variety of domestic and imported citrus items continue to be featured widely. Navel oranges, when combining per each and per pound ad activity, were the second most featured commodity overall. Vegetable ads showed only a very slight increase in total this week. The most notable increase in activity was seen on sweet potatoes which more than doubled.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads December 14, 2007
Cantaloupe 2%
Cherries 9%
Lemons 0%
Limes 1%
Grapefruit, red 9%
Mangoes 4%
Nectarines 1%
Grapes, green/red 0%
Clementines 10%
Strawberries 2%
Pineapple 10%
Peaches 1%
Pears, Bartlett 6%
Oranges, navel 7%
Strawberries, organic 0%
Apples, red delicious 10%
Avocadoes, hass 10%
Bananas 1%
Bananas, organic 1%
Blueberries 16%


Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads December 14, 2007
Cucumbers 6%
Lettuce, iceberg 2%
Celery 4%
Corn 0%
Lettuce, romaine 2%
Mushrooms, white 4%
Onions, yellow 5%
Onions, sweet 5%
Peppers, bell green 4%
Peppers, bell red 4%
Potatoes, russet 4%
Squash, zucchini 4%
Sweet Potatoes 6%
Tomatoes on the vine 4%
Carrots, baby organic 4%
Beans, round green 6%
Broccoli 3%
Broccoli, organic 2%
Cabbage 1%
Carrots, baby 8%
Tomatoes, grape 11%
Tomatoes 1%
Tomatoes, organic 0%
Asparagus 7%
Tomatoes, grape organic 1%