Sales Review: Tomatoes 2018-01-01 (3)

Tomatoes accounted for 5.3 percent of produce department dollar sales during the 52 weeks ended Jan. 30. During this time, tomatoes posted average sales of $2,678 per store per week, a three percent increase compared to the previous year. Volume sales remained steady compared to the previous year, increasing just one percent. The average retail price for tomatoes increased two percent to $2.29. 

Tomatoes posted even contributions to produce department dollar sales across the U.S. regions compared to last year, with the East and South regions posting a respective 5.5 percent contribution, followed by the West region at 5.1 percent, and the Central region at five percent. The East posted the highest average sales at $3,405 per store per week, a 3.6 percent increase compared to the previous year. Average dollar sales increased across the U.S. regions, with the highest increase occurring in the West, up 5.5 percent to $2,759 per store per week. 

Category sales were highest during the late spring and early summer months of tomato season, and sales peaked the week of the Fourth of July holiday at $3,254 per store. The second-highest selling week was the week ending May 9, 2015, at $3,077 per store. The lowest-selling week for tomatoes was the week ending Dec. 5, at $2,252 per store. 

The tomato category is made up five varieties—snacking, hothouse on the vine, Roma, hothouse round and field tomatoes. Each of the five varieties increased average dollar sales compared to the previous year, with the largest growth occurring in hothouse round, up 6.8 percent to $364 per store per week. The larger snacking tomatoes variety also posted solid growth, up 4.7 percent to $839 per store per week.