National Retail Report - Jan. 2

From the summary of the USDA National Retail Report:


This week, almost all ads focused on celebrations for the New Year and featured pork, black-eyed peas, and an array of party platters prominently. In addition, many retailers were simultaneously promoting party items for many of the football bowl games. A shift in the main theme from celebrations to healthful changes and resolutions as evident in the ads breaking late in the week. Overall fresh produce ad activity was up 7.5% compared to last week and corresponded to an increase of nearly 16% in the number of fruit ads and a decrease of more than 2% on vegetables. The top 5 featured items were all fruits and accounted for roughly 44% of all fruits and nearly 26% of total produce ads. These included: avocados, cherries, Clementines, cantaloupes, and limes. There were significant increases in ad activity on peaches and nectarines as the supplies from Chile increased. Strawberries also saw a significant increase and on many occasions retailers specified their stock was from Florida. The most dramatic decline in activity was seen on sweet potatoes as the number of ads dwindled to almost nothing compared to last week.