National Retail Report - Jan. 4

The USDA's weekly national report can be found at this link. Here is today's report on retail produce promotions, revealing that indeed healthy resolutions are being amply catered to:

Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets
Dec. 29 to Jan. 12
Retailers encourage new beginnings and healthy resolutions. Early week promotions focused on party items such as fruit, vegetable, cheese, and deli platters and a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for toasting in the New Year. Most mid to late week ads had the common theme of new beginnings and healthier habits. A wide variety of items were featured to aid in resolutions to eat more healthfully and lose weight. These ads most often included frozen meals, fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned), and a variety of vitamins and supplements. Many retailers also featured special “organic” and “natural” items including fresh
produce in their promotions to encourage a more health-oriented lifestyle. Overall this week, produce ads were more prevalent and fruits and vegetables were nearly equal in activity. Many retailers were highlighting fresh produce with the “More Matters” logo to promote adequate fruit and vegetable consumption. The top featured items this week included: cherries, cucumbers, green peppers, cantaloupes, and avocados. When compared to last week, fruit ads decreased by more than 7 percent and vegetable ads increased by about 14 percent. The most notable declines in activity were seen on: avocados, cabbage, limes, lemons, and sweet potatoes. The most notable increases were seen on cucumbers and green and red peppers.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads - Jan. 4
Strawberries 7%
Plums 0%
Pineapple 4%
Peaches 3%
Pears, Bartlett 3%
Oranges, navel 4%
Limes 2%
Watermelon, mini 3%
Grapefruit, red 8%
Lemons 2%
Mangoes 8%
Nectarines, yellow flesh 3%
Honeydew 2%
Apples, red delicious 4%
Bananas 2%
Avocados, hass 9%
Bananas, organic 2%
Blueberries 8%
Grapes, green/red 0%
Clementines 6%
Cherries 12%
Cantaloupe 9%

Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads - Jan. 4
Tomatoes 1%
Sweet Potatoes 1%
Peppers, bell green 10%
Cucumbers 11%
Lettuce, iceberg 5%
Lettuce, romaine 1%
Mushrooms, white 6%
Onions, yellow 6%
Onions, sweet 7%
Squash, zucchini 4%
Potatoes, russet 4%
Peppers, bell red 5%
Tomatoes on the vine 5%
Celery 5%
Carrots, baby organic 6%
Carrots, baby 7%
Cabbage 3%
Beans, round green 3%
Tomatoes, grape organic 3%
Asparagus 2%
Tomatoes, grape 8%