Retailers brought out even more holiday cheer this week, with Thanksgiving and winter holiday meal favorites well-featured. New crop California Navel oranges appeared, signaling the start of winter citrus season. In addition to fall favorites, popular cookout items like Iceberg lettuce, berries, avocados, zucchini, cucumbers, asparagus, and tomatoes were showcased for Veteran's Day get-togethers. Several retailers offered 3-day Veteran's Day special sales. Poinsettias in 6-inch pots joined fall mums in floral sections, adding to the holiday flair.
Total ad numbers this week were 289,775, a 3% increase from last week's total of 280,786. The total for the same week last year was 12% lower at 259,065 when Friday-breaking ads were not included due to the observance of Veteran's Day. The total number of ads broken out by commodity groups: fruit 154,360 (53% of all ads), onions and potatoes 27,968 (10%), vegetables 103,186 (36%), herbs 962, ornamentals 1,354, and hemp 2,907. The number of ads for organic produce was 37,579, 13% 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 only Honeycrisp apples (2 lb. bags) at 36%. Significant decreases included seedless grapes (red at 14%, white at 10%). Significant changes in price for potatoes and onions this week included only a 20% increase in price for Russet potatoes (5 lb. bag). Significant increases in price for vegetables this week included long seedless cucumbers at 38%, Iceberg lettuce at 26%, and asparagus at 23%. There were no significant decreases.
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