INFLATION Hurts November Retail Produce Volume

BY TOM KARST

ith holiday buying and inflationary pressures coming together, the pro duce department in November experi-W enced both the stresses of the pandemic and new factors, as well. “The market has yet to find a new and consistent level of balance,” said the latest report on retail fresh produce sales by the IRI, 210 Analytics and the Produce Marketing Association.

The report said retail produce sales in November were $5.3 billion, up 4% from a year ago and up 16% from two years ago. That is similar to the performance of all perishables, which showed total sales of $25 billion, up 4.7% from a year ago and up 15.4% from two years ago, according to the report.

Despite that recent increase, the report said only 4% of survey respondents believe they will buy all their groceries online in the next month, with 19% indicating they only buy some or a little online.

While shopping in person, fewer people browsed for new items or ideas and 17% spent less time in the store than pre-pandemic, the report said.

“This underscores the importance of cross-merchandising, eye-catching displays, suggestive selling and more to make sure fresh produce remains on the consumer radar,” said Jonna Parker, principal of the IRI’s Fresh Center of Excellence.

Fresh produce sales were very consistent, with November levels between $1.2 and $1.4 billion each week, according to the report.

“Both the week before the holiday and Thanksgiving week itself were big for fresh produce,” Joe Watson, vice president of member engagement for the Produce Marketing Association, said in the release.

“As we have been seeing since the start of the pandemic, consumers started holiday purchases earlier — making the week prior to the holiday the bigger of the two. I noticed a lot of consumer media coverage about potential shortages, resulting in some consumers being surprised to find certain items in stock. We have an opportunity to clearly communicate about supply chain availability and provide substitution suggestions where needed.”

Source: IRI Integrated Fresh, Total U.S., multi-outlet, % change versus a year ago

November vegetable retail sales compared with a year ago: • Fresh vegetables: up 0.1% • Potatoes: up 0.3% • Tomatoes: down 2.6% • Packaged salad: up 7.1% • Onions: up 2.8% • Lettuce: up 1.2% • Peppers: down 1.7% • Carrots; up 1.9% •Mushrooms: down 6.1% • Broccoli: up 9.5% • Celery: up 1.5%

Source: IRI Integrated Fresh, Total U.S., multi-outlet, % change versus a year ago