National Retail Report - May 2

The USDA's National Retail report is found here. From the May 2 report, it is shown that promotions were ramped up for the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Check out more details from this report in the spreadsheets and charts at the bottom oft he blog. From the summary:

Retailers highlighted Cinco de Mayo celebrations in ads this week and featured fresh produce heavily. Most widely featured produce for the holiday included: avocadoes, cilantro, jalapenos, limes, mangoes, onions, and tomatoes. In addition, many stores continued to feature items for grilling, and others were getting a head start on Mother’s Day ads. “Buy-one-get-one-free” and 10 for $10 promotions were abundant. Compared to last week, overall fresh produce ad activity increased roughly 11 percent with a 21 percent increase in fruit ads and a 3 percent increase in vegetables. The top 5 featured items were influenced heavily by the Cinco de Mayo holiday and included: avocados, mangoes, corn, sweet onions, and strawberries. The most significant increases in fruit ads were seen on avocados, limes, and mangoes. Despite a decrease in ad activity of nearly one-third on strawberries, they were still in the top featured items. The most notable changes on the vegetable ad activity included a decline in asparagus and an increase in cucumbers. A wide selection of organic produce was featured with the most prominent being lettuces, packaged salads, tomatoes, onions, zucchini and mangoes. Retailers also appear to featuring more local and regional fresh fruits and vegetables as they come into season.