The United Fresh Research & Education Foundation has released its quarterly research report, Fresh Facts on Retail, for the fourth quarter of 2008. This report recaps retail sales trends for the top 10 fruits and vegetables, value-added and convenience produce items, and organic produce.
Among the key findings:
•Among the top 10 fruits, only grapes, strawberries, and avocados were up in volume year-over-year.
•Among the top 10 vegetables, not a single commodity showed volume increases.
•Value-added fruits showed a decline of 6.5% in dollars and 6.0% in volume.
•Value-added vegetables showed a decline of 4.9% in dollars, but a larger decline of 10.1% in volume.
•Organic fruit and vegetables still showed slight increases in volume, with fruit up 5.6% and vegetables up 0.3%.
•Looking across 2008, peppers, berries, and bananas were the only categories to post positive growth every month of the year.
•The volume of produce movement was down 3.6% for Q4 compared with the previous year.
In addition, the year-end report includes analysis of the impact current economic conditions may be having on the produce market.
Fresh Facts on Retail is sponsored by Del Monte Fresh Produce and produced in partnership with the Perishables Group, which tracks and provides analysis of retail sales data.
