Transactions including produce bolster basket revenue

While 55% of trips to the grocery store did not include a produce purchase during the opening quarter of 2017, the average basket price rose $22 to $63 when fruits, vegetables or other qualifying selections were part of the transaction. That’s according to United Fresh’s Q1 2017 FreshFacts on Retail report.

In addition, the report found that produce departments generated nearly $52,000 per store each week during the first quarter, and fruit led vegetables both in weekly dollar sales and volume. Fruits brought in $23,601 on 16,260 units versus $22,860 and 14,233 for vegetables.

Berries rode a 1.7% climb in performance from the opening of 2016 to lead all fruits and vegetables with $4,734 in weekly sales, and 79% of households reported buying the item at least once during the course of the year.

Citrus finished second among fruits in sales performance with 81% of households purchasing at least one item. The subcategory generated $4,230 per week for stores.

Packaged salad, the vegetable leader, saw a modest price drop since Q1 of last year, losing just under 2% on the road to $4,424 in sales.

No other vegetable would outpace a fruit until the latter’s fifth-best performer, grapes.

Grapes leveraged a 19.3% dip in year-over-year retail price to generate about $2,600 in sales. The category was outpaced by tomatoes, which was the second most lucrative vegetable, bringing in $2,622 per store despite sliding only 8.4% in price over the same period.

Fruits also led the pack in terms of value-added produce, notching $2,296 weekly per store as value-added vegetables hit $2,123.

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