National Retail Report - March 28

For retail produce department managers, Cinco de Mayo can't get here fast enough. Below is the summary graph of the USDA's weekly look at national produce promotions from March 28.


Produce Ads Suffer Post-Easter Decline
Retail ads this week lacked a universally common theme. Many retailers were running “10 for $10” and “buy-one-get-onefree” specials. Some retailers were featuring snack items hoping to draw in the March Madness crowd and others ran Spring-themed promotions. A few retailers were even targeting customers for the Passover holiday which will begin in a few weeks. Overall this week, total fresh produce ads were down roughly 18 percent compared to last week. Vegetables were down about 29 percent and fruit ads were down nearly 5 percent. The top 5 featured items were: grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, mangoes, and zucchini. The most notable post-Easter declines were on pineapple, asparagus, green beans, and sweet potatoes.
As in the weeks before Easter, fruits were once again the most heavily featured and accounted for 52 percent of the total produce ads. Several fruit items saw an increase in ad space including: apples, avocados, grapefruit and melons. Notable declines on fruit were seen on pineapples, blueberries, and stone fruits. In addition, banana ads have been declining in ad space over the last several weeks. This is due to short supplies after the effects of a combination of weather events dating back to this past Fall in producing countries.


Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads
March 28, 2008
Watermelon,`mini 6%
Watermelon, seedless 1%
Strawberries, organic 1%
Strawberries 11%
Plums 2%
Peaches 2%
Pineapple 2%
Cantaloupe 12%
Clementines 0%
Grapes, green/red 16%
Grapefruit, red 3%
Honeydew 4%
Lemons 0%
Nectarines, yellow flesh 3%
Oranges, navel 4%
Pears, bartlett 6%
Mangoes 10%
Bananas 0%
Blueberries 2%
Bananas, organic 1%
Avocadoes, hass 8%
Apples, red delicious 8%








Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads March 28, 2008
Lettuce, iceberg 2%
Lettuce, romaine 3%
Cucumbers 7%
Carrots, baby organic 4%
Carrots, baby 8%
Cabbage 1%
Broccoli, organic 2%
Beans, round green 4%
Broccoli 4%
Asparagus 3%
Celery 3%
Corn 2%
Tomatoes, grape organic 2%
Tomatoes, grape 5%
Tomatoes on the vine 6%
Tomatoes 7%
Sweet Potatoes 0%
Potatoes, russet 3%
Peppers, bell red 3%
Peppers, bell green 2%
Squash, zucchini 9%
Onions, sweet 9%
Mushrooms, white 8%
Onions, yellow 2%