Salmonella impact - June retail tomato sales

Developing...David Mitchell of The Packer to develop this story... figures below from The Perishables Group...

For the four weeks ending June 28, 2008, total tomato volume was down 17 percent from the same period a year ago, while dollar sales were down 5.4 percent to $136.3 million.

Raw red plum, red Roma and round red suffered the most, decreasing an average of 46.1 percent in volume and 36.2 percent in dollar sales; while other tomatoes increased 3.4 percent and 8 percent in volume and dollars, respectively.

Perishables Group Produce Data Facts:

ü The data represents retail census sales data of the total U.S. grocery store chains having more than $2 million sales annually.

ü Data represents approximately 62 percent ACV* and 15,000 stores nationwide.

ü Not included in the data sets: Wal-Mart, club stores, small independent chains and alternative format retailers such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats.

ü The data represents items sold from the produce department including UPC, PLU and system 2 coded items.

ü The tomato category volume is reported in pounds.