National Retail Report - June 6

From the USDA's National Retail Report:

Retailers Celebrate Summer with Seasonal Produce

As summer progresses and temperatures rise, especially across the South and East, retailers consistently focused ads onsummer themes. Items for the grill and fresh produce were typical highlights in ads. In addition, many retailers kicked offNational Dairy Month with features on a variety of dairy products, especially ice cream, to fit into their summer themes.Overall, fresh produce ad activity was up just over 7% compared to last week and can be attributed to an increase ofnearly 22% on fruit ads and a decrease of almost 9% on vegetables. The top 5 featured itemsi were predominantly fruits and corresponded with California’s new fruit crops. The top 5 included: grapes, cherries, peaches, sweet onions, and nectarines. The most notable increases were seen on grapes, nectarines, and peaches. Berries were featured quite heavily this week as they have been for the past few weeks. Despite a decrease in the number of blueberry ads in this report, many retailers, especially in the East, were promoting pint-sized containers as opposed to the 4.4 oz containers reported. Blackberries and raspberries were also widely featured.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads- June 6, 2008

Bananas 0%
Avocadoes, hass 5%
Apples, red delicious 1%
Watermelon, seedless 4%
Watermelon, mini 2%
Bananas, organic 0%
Blueberries 2%
Cantaloupe 9%
Grapefruit, red 0%
Honeydew 1%
Limes 4%
Lemons 1%
Mangoes 5%
Strawberries, organic 3%
Strawberries 9%
Plums 2%
Pineapple 2%
Peaches 13%
Oranges, navel 0%
Nectarines 9%
Grapes, green/red 14%
Cherries 13%

Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads -June 6, 2008

Cucumbers 6%
Lettuce, iceberg 2%
Lettuce, romaine 3%
Mushrooms, white 5%
Broccoli 2%
Broccoli, organic 1%
Cabbage 2%
Carrots, baby 5%
Carrots, baby organic 2%
Corn 10%
Onions, yellow 3%
Beans, round green 5%
Asparagus 4%
Tomatoes, grape organic 3%
Tomatoes, grape 7%
Tomatoes on the vine 8%
Tomatoes, organic 1%
Tomatoes 2%
Squash, zucchini 8%
Potatoes, russet 3%
Peppers, bell green 2%
Peppers, bell red 3%
Onions, sweet 15%