National Retail Report - Feb. 15

From the USDA's National Retail Report of Feb. 15.

Valentine’s Day
This week’s retail ads continued to target late Valentine’s Day shoppers with promotions of flowers, candies, and special cuts of meat. Seafood was featured prominently once again in deference to Lent. A “think Spring” theme is also beginning to emerge, helped along by the availability of more fruits, especially the late-summer Chilean stone fruit and grapes. Produce ads this week were up more than 5 percent with both fruit and vegetable ads increasing approximately 5 percent compared to the previous week. Again this week the top featured items focused on imported items. The top five items included: grapes, asparagus, peaches, blueberries, and nectarines. There were no notable changes.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads
February 15, 2008
Limes 0%
Lemons 1%
Mangoes 4%
Nectarines, yellow flesh 9%
Oranges, navel 3%
Peaches 10%
Honeydew 1%
Grapefruit, red 6%
Watermelon, mini 2%
Strawberries 6%
Plums 8%
Pineapple 5%
Apples, red delicious 6%
Avocadoes, hass 5%
Bananas 0%
Bananas, organic 1%
Grapes, green/red 16%
Clementines 1%
Cantaloupe 6%
Blueberries 9%

Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads - February 15, 2008
Lettuce, iceberg 3%
Broccoli 2%
Lettuce, romaine 1%
Corn 1%
Cucumbers 6%
Celery 2%
Carrots, baby organic 6%
Carrots, baby 6%
Cabbage 3%
Broccoli, organic 1%
Mushrooms, white 5%
Tomatoes 3%
Tomatoes, organic 0%
Tomatoes on the vine 3%
Sweet Potatoes 3%
Squash, zucchini 4%
Onions, sweet 5%
Onions, yellow 4%
Peppers, bell green 3%
Peppers, bell red 7%
Potatoes, russet 9%
Tomatoes, grape 6%
Beans, round green 1%
Tomatoes, grape organic 3%
Asparagus 13%

Back in the USA

I've had the best of all possible weeks in Russia. Importers were generous with their time, and I had the chance to see and interact with some amazing people. I didn't have one negative experience in terms of how I was treated. Even so, the morning after my flight from Moscow to the U.S., I reflect about the things I missed about the USA while in Russia: (not meant to be a comprehensive list)

* ordering a cherry pie at McDonald's and not getting a quizzical expression (on second thought....)
* ethnic diversity you see walking down a city street in the U.S. but not in Russia
* the easy math of the greenback versus paying 2,500 rubles for a taxi and thinking nothing of it
* Being able to use my cell phone
* the sun
* the 110 electrical outlet
* Valentine's Day with my wife
* The sports page and sports radio
* Network TV and the local news
* Just knowing the Gideon Bible is there in the hotel bedside stand drawer
* Being home with family

TK: I have a renewed appreciation for all of industry stalwarts who hit the road so many weeks a year. It's not easy to be far from home one week at a time, to say nothing of the type of nonstop schedules some global produce marketers spend on planes, trains and taxis in foreign countries. My Russian hat is off to you.