Retail Visit: A Mid-Summer Look at the Produce Aisles

Earlier this week marked another monthly retail store visit. As predicted from this month’s tour of the local market to get a sense of what is happening with various product, there were several consistencies from last month’s visit. Here’s what stood out:

Stone Fruit – still leading the way in volume and in store promotions. Most product is coming from different shippers out the San Joaquin Valley in CA. Mixed sizes and colors are available but large fruit is dominating in terms of volume. Red plums and black plums are available in excellent quality. Pluots are showing excellent volumes as well, with many stores promoting the 75% plum, 25% apricot GM fruit. Gaining in popularity, over 80 varieties of pluots and plumcots (a 50/50 mix of the plum and apricot) are cultivated in the US alone!

 

Peruvian Avocadoes – only introduced to the North American market 3 years ago, Peruvian avocadoes now a hold 20% share. Peru’s peak volume occurs from June to September, which is optimal since CA and MX cannot keep supply up with ever increasing consumer demand at this time of the year. CA is currently at the peak of their season, with 48 and 60s being the most common size. MX prices are quite high and volume is very low at the moment due to the switch in crops (old crop wrapping up, new crops beginning to be harvested). Stores currently have good supplies of product from Peru, and experts expect this to continue throughout August. Key ports of entry remain at Philadelphia, New York, and Southern CA.

Overall, quality of all produce in the stores looked great. Promotions of local summer favorites was also abundant (cherries, corn, and local hothouse). The above average temperatures in the west this week will surely help move these promotions along, as consumers look to beat the heat with barbeques and outdoor dining.

Retail visits occur monthly, and are a market research tool that we use to determine changes in buying patterns & seasonality and allow us to better assist our customers with their operations. Contact us today to discuss further and check back soon for more data!