Vegetable volumes in the US are falling as produce sales have dropped, but organics are faring better, as reflected by the United Fresh Research & Education Foundation’s quarterly report.
The report, Fresh Facts on Retail, details the fourth quarter of 2008 and reveals that US produce volume movement is down 3.6 per cent, while only three of the top 20 fruits and vegetable saw volume increases.
None of the top 10 US vegetables saw an increase while just grapes, strawberries and avocados were up in volume year on year. Value-added fruits were down six per cent in volume while value-added veg was down 10 per cent.
Perhaps surprisingly, organic fruit and vegetables still showed slight increases in volume, with fruit up 5.6 per cent and vegetables up 0.3 per cent.
Produce department weekly sales per store were up 2.3 per cent over the previous year, but this was likely due in large part to retail prices 6.1 per cent above the prior year.
Looking across 2008, peppers, berries and bananas were the only categories to post positive growth every month of the year.
Victoria Backer, United Fresh senior vice-president for member services, said: "The economy is clearly having an impact on these Q4 volume declines. But this won’t be the end of the story, as produce companies and retailers are adapting to ways to move more produce, even in these difficult times.”
