Produce department sales in the US increased by 4.8 per cent in 2014, averaging more than US$47,000 per week, per store. The findings come from United Fresh Produce Association’s
2013 edition of the FreshFacts on Retail report, which examines overall retail trends in produce for the past year.
The report, produced in partnership with the Nielsen Perishables Group, measures retail price and sales trends for the top 10 fruit and vegetable commodities, as well as value-added, organic and other produce categories.
It showed that all of the top 10 fruit categories registered volume increases, with average weekly dollar sales for fruits up 4.5 per cent compared with 2012. Value-added and fresh-cut fruit also posted increases in weekly dollar sales. Avocados posted the highest growth in the fruit category, with dollar sales increasing 11.7 per cent and volume rising by 10.3 per cent for the year.
In vegetables, all top 10 categories posted increases in weekly dollar sales, with snacking value-added vegetables seeing a 15 per cent rise in sales. Packaged salad and tomatoes, the two top-selling categories in vegetables, saw dollar sales rises of 6.7 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, recent trends show that even with increases in retail prices, volume sales continue to grow in all organic fruit and vegetable categories. The growing demand for organic produce resulted in dollar and volume increase, roughly 20 per cent for both organic fruits and vegetables overall.
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