National Retail Report - Jan. 25

Here is the summary from the USDA's National Retail Report from Jan. 25

Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets 01/19 to 01/31

Fruit Ads Rebound
Ads continued to feature a variety of themes this week. There were some lingering ads promoting healthful eating. Breakfast food items such as cereals, oatmeal, milk, and blueberries were featured heavily across the nation. The number of football and “big game” ads increased and focused mainly on snack food items. By far, though, most retailers were featuring meat items as their main attractions. There were an abundance of 10 for $10 ads nationwide as well. Produce ad activity increased roughly 6 percent this week and can be attributed to a 15 percent increase in activity on fruit ads. The top 5 featured items this week were all imported fruit items and included: peaches, blueberries, nectarines, grapes, and mangoes. Blueberries were also often featured in package sizes larger than the 4.4 oz package reported here. Vegetable activity, however, declined about 5 percent. Other features in the produce and seasonal areas were quite varied. Citrus was still being featured quite often throughout the country. The most prevalent citrus ads were for bagged navel oranges, bagged grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges, tangerines, and tangelos. There were also a few ads noted for Meyer lemons. Kiwi ads, both conventional and organic, were noted more often than usual. Cut flowers and small potted flowers such as tulips and daffodils were noted
occasionally.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads - January 25, 2008
Grapefruit, red 4%
Limes 1%
Honeydew 2%
Lemons 0%
Apples, red delicious 4%
Watermelon, mini 1%
Strawberries 4%
Plums 4%
Pineapple 5%
Peaches 12%
Pears, Bartlett 0%
Oranges, navel 5%
Mangoes 8%
Nectarines, yellow flesh 10%
Watermelon, seedless 0%
Cherries 5%
Clementines 1%
Grapes, green/red 10%
Cantaloupe 4%
Avocadoes, hass 4%
Bananas 2%
Bananas, organic 2%
Blueberries 11%




Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads January 25, 2008
Tomatoes 4%
Tomatoes, grape 6%
Asparagus 3%
Tomatoes, grape organic 1%
Tomatoes, organic 0%
Tomatoes on the vine 2%
Squash, zucchini 1%
Sweet Potatoes 2%
Potatoes, russet 9%
Peppers, bell red 10%
Peppers, bell green 3%
Onions, sweet 10%
Mushrooms, white 6%
Onions, yellow 6%
Corn 2%
Celery 3%
Cucumbers 3%
Lettuce, iceberg 3%
Lettuce, romaine 2%
Carrots, baby organic 5%
Broccoli 5%
Broccoli, organic 1%
Cabbage 6%
Carrots, baby 8%
Beans, round green 1%