National Retail Report - June 27

Fruits rule food page ads for the July 4 holiday, reports the USDA's National Retail Report for June 27 shows.

Fruits Dominate Ads as Retailers Begin July 4th Sales
Nearly all retailers continued to advertise with summer-time themes and some began advertising this week for the July 4th holiday. Meats for the grill (especially ground beef, chicken, and pork) and fruits (especially berries and stone fruits) commanded much of the front page ad space. Many retailers also took the opportunity during this last week in June to
promote Dairy Month. Fruits dominated the produce ads this week with an increase of 14% over the previous week and accounted for nearly 61% of the total. Overall fresh produce ad activity continued to increase this week with a 4% gain despite a 8% decline in vegetable ad activity. The top 5 items were all fruits and included: peaches, nectarines, grapes, cantaloupes, and strawberries. These 5 items actually made up 53% of all regularly report fruit ads and nearly one-third of the total ads. In addition to the regularly reported items, berries (blackberries, blueberries in pint containers, and raspberries) reported in the seasonal category of this report were also featured quite heavily in both price and “buy-one-get-one-free” ads.


Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads June 27, 2008
Peaches 13%
Oranges, navel 0%
Pears, bartlett 0%
Nectarines 11%
Mangoes 7%
Grapes, green/red 11%
Grapefruit, red 0%
Limes 2%
Honeydew 1%
Cherries 3%
Cantaloupe 9%
Strawberries 9%
Organic Strawberries, 2%
Watermelon, mini 1%
Watermelon, seedless 8%
Apples, red delicious 1%
Avocadoes, hass 7%
Bananas, organic 0%
Blueberries, 4.4oz 0%
Bananas 0%
Lemons 1%
Pineapple 4%
Plums 9%


Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads - June 27, 2008
Broccoli, organic 1%
Broccoli 3%
Beans, round green 4%
Tomatoes on the vine 9%
Tomatoes 2%
Cabbage 2%
Carrots, baby organic 3%
Carrots, baby 5%
Asparagus 1%
Tomatoes, grape organic 1%
Tomatoes, grape 4%
Celery 0%
Corn 13%
Cucumbers 6%
Lettuce, iceberg 4%
Lettuce, romaine 4%
Mushrooms, white 6%
Onions, yellow 1%
Sweet Potatoes 1%
Squash, zucchini 6%
Potatoes, russet 1%
Peppers, bell red 5%
Peppers, bell green 6%
Onions, sweet 12%