Many schools across the country are opening their doors this week. Lunchbox and snacking favorites like tangerines, grapes, baby carrots, apples, grape tomatoes, and apple juice were among the most popular items seen in flyers. Many retailers dedicated ad space to school supplies. Local produce continued to dominate supplies with offerings from Alaska, Michigan, Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico, Maine, and Oregon, to name a few.
Total ad numbers this week were 314,510, a 2% increase from last week's 308,827. The total for the same week last year was 3% higher than for this year. The total number of ads broken out by commodity groups: fruit 171,175 (54% of all ads), onions and potatoes 12,473 (4%), vegetables 128,009 (41%), herbs 982, ornamentals 880, and hemp 991. The number of ads for organic produce was 48,863, 16% 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 cantaloupes at 25%, nectarines (yellow 25%, white 21%), blueberries (18 oz) at 24%, peaches (yellow 23%, organic yellow 16%, white 13%), strawberries at 23%, plums at 22%, red cherries (19%), seedless grapes (red 18%, black 11%, organic red 14%, organic white 13%), blackberries at 17%, apple juice at 17%, and mangos at 15%.
There only significant decrease was for Honeycrisp apples at 18%. The only significant changes in price for onions and potatoes this week was a 14% increase for sweet yellow onions. Significant increases in price for vegetables this week included packaged salad (10-12 oz at 34%, 5-9 oz at 22%), yellow squash at 17%, corn at 13%, on-the-vine tomatoes at 13%, and cucumbers at 12%. The only significant decrease was for grape tomatoes (10 oz) at 13%.
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Source: mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov