2021 Tomato and Pepper Sales Remain Strong
December 8, 2021 The first year of the pandemic drove fresh produce retail sales through the roof. How well is the market holding on to those sales? Very well indeed, says Scott Calandra, Produce Buyer for Meijer stores, who spoke at Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Expo on December 7.
Take the categories of tomatoes and peppers.
In tomatoes, when compared to a previous year’s sales, stores typically report minimal increases and decreases. The highest shift in the three years leading to 2020 was a 2.7% increase in tomato volume sales in 2019. That same year, the amount of dollars in sales increased only 0.4%, not at all an unusual amount, Calandra says.
Contrast that to 2020 sales. Volume sales rose 13.7%, and dollar sales rose to 18.4%. And 2021 is holding to most of that increase. While volume sales and dollar sales are down, they fell off only slightly. Volume sales are down only 1.2%, while dollar sales fell off 2020 record-breaking sales 3.3%.
It’s a similar story in peppers. Sales rose about 25% and 20% for volume and dollar sales respectively. Volume sales fell off only 1.7% in 2021. Dollars sales? So far, it’s flat against record-breaking 2020.
What About Online Sales?
Another trend that’s holding its own in 2021 is online grocery sales. Although grocery sales were up over all in 2020, in-store purchases fell by 10%. That increases was shared between curbside pick up sales and deliveries. Calandra says 25 to 54 year-olds drove most of that shift in shopping method.
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