Retail performance of peppers mirrors vegetable category in 2021

While fresh pepper retail sales took a minor step back in 2021, so did practically every fresh vegetable item tracked by retail scan data.

In the vegetable aisle, IRI OmniMarket Integrated Fresh numbers put 2021 retail fresh pepper sales at $2.49 billion, down 3.7% compared with 2020. 

That scan data for fresh peppers comes in just behind lettuce ($2.7 billion) and just ahead of fresh onions ($2.44 billion), according to IRI. 

By way of comparison, IRI statistics showed all fresh vegetable sales in 2021 totaled $35.39 billion, down 2.6% compared with 2020,

Pushing peppers

Fresh pepper sales accounted for 7% of vegetable aisle sales in 2021, compared with 11% for tomatoes, 9.4% for potatoes, 9.2% for salad kits, 7.6% for fresh lettuce and 6.9% for onions, according to IRI.

That dollar share for peppers in the fresh vegetable aisle was nearly identical to last year, missing 2020's share by 0.1%, compared with 0.3% declines for tomatoes and potatoes, a 1% rise in salad kit share of sales, a 0.3% gain in fresh lettuce and an unchanged share for onions.

In terms of volume, IRI reported 1.27 billion pounds of fresh peppers moved at retail in 2021, down 6% compared with 2020. The average price per pound for peppers was $1.96, up 5 cents per pound compared with 2020.

Relative to organic sales, IRI reported that 2021 fresh pepper organic retail sales were $170.3 million, up 4.2% compared with 2020.

Organic peppers accounted for about 4.2% of the organic vegetable aisle sales in 2021, up 0.2% compared with 2020.

IRI reported the volume of fresh organic bell peppers totaled 50.6 million pounds in 2021, up 5.4% compared with 2020. Organic fresh peppers accounted for 3.8% of the volume of the organic vegetable aisle, up 0.3% compared with 2020.

The average price per pound for organic peppers in 2021 was $3.36 per pound, IRI reported down 4 cents per pound compared with 2020.