Retailers had several options for promotions this week. With National Hispanic Heritage Month underway, stores featured traditional foods like Roma tomatoes, papayas, tomatillos, limes, mangos, jalapenos, and avocados. Rosh Hashanah is also on the calendar this month, and several grocery chains focused on ingredients for celebratory meals, such as potatoes, apple and grape juices, carrots, honey, and apples.
Of course, the arrival of Autumn was a natural opportunity for promotions, as pumpkins, apple cider, pomegranates, potted mums, cauliflower, and cabbage began to replace summer fruits and vegetables in retail displays.
Total ad numbers this week were 282,993, a 3% increase from last week's 273,575. The total for the same week last year was 9% higher than for this year. The total number of ads broken out by commodity groups: fruit 151,461 (54% of all ads), onions and potatoes 13,691 (5%), vegetables 112,395 (40%), herbs 1,303, ornamentals 3,022, and hemp 1,121.
The number of ads for organic produce was 44,043, 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 plums at 34%, blackberries at 31%, Gala apples (per lb) at 24%, yellow peaches at 19%, apple juice at 18%, and seedless grapes (red and white 16%, organic white 14%, organic red 13%).
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