The newest FreshFacts on Retail report from the United Fresh Produce Association sums up the fourth quarter of 2020 and the year overall, along with spotlighting upcoming seasonal categories cucumbers, mangoes and mushrooms.
The produce department generated $16.6 billion in the fourth quarter, up 10.8% from the same period in 2019 and up 11.8% from the same period in 2018, according to the report. Vegetables saw nearly twice the growth of fruit, with vegetable dollar sales up 13.9% over Q4 of 2019 and fruit dollar sales up 7.2%.
“Q4 was largely a continuation of pandemic trends we have seen throughout the year, including consistent growth for produce at retail,” Miriam Wolk, United Fresh’s vice president of member services, said in a news release. “The resilience of fresh produce throughout 2020 was a testament to the commitment of growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensuring America’s healthy eating needs continued to be met.”
Fourth quarter of 2020
Among the top selling fruit commodities for Q4, berries saw some of the biggest percentage increases in dollar sales, with strawberries up 17.9% and blueberries up 16.2%. Citrus also saw significant dollar growth, with mandarins up 14.5% and oranges up 20.9%. Watermelons, 10th on the list, saw growth of 20.4%.
On the vegetable side, both pre-packaged salads and potatoes brought in more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Six of the top 10 items in dollar sales saw growth of 17% or more: tomatoes (17.5%), lettuce (25.2%), bell peppers (23.9%), mushrooms (18.1%) and cucumbers (20.9%) along with pre-packaged salads and potatoes.
Value-added produce accounted for 3.6% of total fresh produce sales in the quarter, including $600 million on the fruit side (up 1.8% from 2019) and $452 million on the veg side (up 9.4% from 2019).
Organic sales for the fourth quarter were $2.1 billion, up 14.7% compared to the same period last year. Organic vegetable sales jumped 19.7%, while organic fruit sales grew 6.3%. Organic herbs and spices were up 25.3%, according to the report.
2020 overall
The year saw a 2.8% decrease in household trips to purchase fresh but a 1.2% increase in household trips to purchase produce.
The categories with the most volume growth for the year were oranges (21.6%), bell peppers (28.3%), broccoli (16.1%) and mushrooms (15.8%).
For 2020 overall, value-added fruit dollar sales were down 1.2%, while value-added vegetable dollar sales were up 9.2%.
“Fruit sales during the year were likely impacted by SKU rationalization, reductions in on-site preparation workforce, and less of a need for convenient packaging such as in work and school lunches,” United wrote in the report. “The success of meal prep shows that consumers are willing to pay more for convenience.”
Organic produce sales reached $8.6 billion in 2020, accounting for 12.1% of produce dollars.
Looking ahead
Seasonal categories spotlighted with the upcoming second quarter of 2021 in mind were cucumbers, mangoes and mushrooms.
Mushrooms raked in $384 million in the second quarter of 2020, up 31.6% from the same period in 2019.
“White is the top seller, accounting for over half of total mushroom sales, followed by crimini (or) baby bella, which represents another 1/3 of total mushroom sales,” United wrote in the report.
Cucumbers generated $366 million in the second quarter, up 21.5% from 2019. Mangoes brought in $149 million, up 7.9%.
“With 42% share, green/red is the largest subcategory, followed by yellow/gold, remaining, and (value-added),” United wrote. “Average prices increased by as much as +10.9% for mangoes overall, driving dollar growth despite volume declines.”
The full report can be downloaded from the United Fresh website.
