Sales Review: Peppers

The peppers category accounted for three percent of produce department dollar sales and 6.9 percent of vegetable sales for the 52 weeks ended May 28. Peppers posted average sales of $2,678 during this time, an impressive 8.1 percent increase compared to the previous year. Volume sales also increased, up 6.6 percent compared to the previous year. 

The peppers category is made up of 22 varieties, all of which increased dollar sales during the latest 52 weeks (with the exception of hot Cubanelle, hot mixed, sweet purple, and sweet white peppers). The top selling pepper variety during this time was sweet green, which posted average dollar sales of $442 per store per week, up 6.9 percent from the previous year. The second highest-selling variety was other sweet peppers at $384 per store per week, an increase of 9.2 percent from the previous year, followed by sweet red peppers at $366 per store per week, an increase of 5.8 percent from the previous year. The “all other” peppers segment includes categories such as hot poblano, hot habanero, and hot chili peppers.

Nationally, peppers had the highest contribution to produce sales in the East region at 3.3 percent followed by the Central at 3.2 percent. The East region also posted the highest average sales of the U.S. regions at $2,114 per store per week, followed by the Central region at $1,677 per store per week. Each of the regions posted strong growth compared to the previous year. The West region posted the largest growth, up 11.9 percent to $1,615 per store per week. 

Peppers sales peaked during the week prior to the Super Bowl (February 6) with $1,813 per store, followed by the week ended January 9, at $1,792 per store. The lowest selling week during the tracked period was the week ended December 5, at $1,279 per store.