There is no need to guess what the major focus was for grocery stores this week. Retailers had everything on hand for traditional meals as well as for modern takes on Thanksgiving dinner. The aisles were bursting with holiday staples like celery, sweet potatoes, asparagus, Brussels' sprouts, cranberries, pineapples, baking apples, pomegranates, onions, potatoes, green beans. New crop citrus and offshore cherries added sparkle to the festivities.
Total ad numbers this week were 322,089, a 24% increase from last week's total of 259,605. The total for the same week last year was 7% lower than for this year. The total number of ads broken out by commodity groups: fruit 135,980 (42% of all ads), onions and potatoes 35,355 (11%), vegetables 139,635 (43%), herbs 1,148, ornamentals 4,772, and hemp 6,347. The number of ads for organic produce was 39,346, 12% of total ads.
The following are the prices of major advertised items (3,000 plus ads) this week, compared to the same week last year. Significant increases in price for fruit this week included apple juice (64 oz.) at 29%, Navel oranges (4 lb. bag) at 25%, and white seedless grapes at 21%. Significant decreases for fruit included Granny Smith apples (3 lb. bag) at 43% and Honeycrisp apples (per lb.) at 15%. The sole significant change in price for potatoes and onions this week was a 10% decrease for Russet potatoes (10 lb. bag).
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Source: mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov