Fruit and Vegetable Prices Increased in the US

According to a survey conducted by IRI (a U.S. market research and data analysis company), 92% of U.S. consumers believe that food prices are a little or a lot higher than last year and 95% of them are concerned about this.

Jonna Parker, head of fruit and vegetables department at IRI, explains that this is because inflationary levels are prompting money-saving measures among 72% of consumers. In addition, inflation in the U.S. has reached a 40-year high and consumers are suffering the consequences.

Fruit and vegetable prices in March 2022 were 10.1% higher than last year, as the average price per pound of fresh produce in that month reached $1.89, while the average for the previous year was $1.72.

The inflationary impact has been greater for fresh fruit since in March of this year its price had an increase of 7.7% with respect to 2021 and 19.4% with respect to 2020, while the increase in the price of vegetables was 7.0% and 16.4%, respectively.

As for sales, March 2022 sales reached $5.6 billion, surpassing the record set in 2021 by 4.7%. However, this increase was due to inflation, as sales volume decreased 4.9% compared to the previous year, contrary to value.

Of the sales generated in March, both fresh fruits and vegetables contributed $2.8 billion, with the main products traded being berries with $714 million, apples with $356 million and tomatoes with $291 million.

Virtually all fresh fruits increased in sales with respect to last year, except for bananas (0.0%) and mandarins (-2.5%). As for vegetables, most of them also presented increases in sales compared to 2021, except for tomatoes (-5.6%), peppers (-1.1%) and mushrooms (-4.7%).

If we talk about the first quarter of 2022, just under 80% of the fruit and vegetables turnover was generated by fresh produce. In terms of total volume, fresh produce accounted for 77.2% in the first quarter, while non-perishables accounted for 14.6%.

Source:

Fresh Plaza. Subida de precios para las frutas y hortalizas en Estados Unidos. https://www.freshplaza.es/article/9418704/subida-de-precios-para-las-frutas-y-hortalizas-en-estados-unidos/