Retail Tracker

Fresh Mushroom Sales Review: 01/01/23

Produced every four weeks, the Retail Tracker Report provides insight into category dollar sales, segment and variety sales, average price per pound, and other helpful metrics.

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Tracker 01/01/23

Sales Review 01/01/23

Performance PPT 01/01/23

Fresh Mushroom Sales Review; 2022 and 4 w.e. 1.1.2023

The Marketplace

The year ended the way it started, with inflation taking the headlines.

According to the December IRI primary shopper survey, 93% believe groceries cost somewhat or a lot more than last year and 97% are somewhat or a lot concerned about it — lower-income households in particular.
Inflationary pressure on income is real: 43% of consumers say their current financial situation is worse than last year. Additionally, 31% expect it to be worse a year from now versus 27% who believe it will be better.
This has prompted a host of money-saving measures when buying groceries among 82% of Americans, such as buying what’s on sale (53%), cutting back on non-essentials (45%), looking for coupons (35%) and switching to store brand items (31%).
December saw a sharp uptick in the estimated share of meals prepared at home to 81.5%. Holiday occasions as well as the recent increase in flu and COVID cases could be influencing factors.
The share of households who purchased restaurant meals dropped from 80% in November to 76% in December. Takeout (52%) and eating on premise (46%) were the most common ways to purchase restaurant meals, with delivery more popular among younger consumers.
Lunch is one of the areas where consumers are looking to save on restaurant meals. Among away-from-home workers, 38% packed lunch more often. At the same time, 25% looked for lower-cost options and 25% for what’s on sale when deciding what to take to work for lunch.

Dollars, Units and Volume Performance

The persistent high level of inflation is continuing the now familiar sales patterns for most departments around the store, including fresh produce. In 2022, the produce department reached $75 billion, up 4.8% year-on-year. However, pound sales were down 3.6% and fell below 2021 and 2020 levels. In the fourth quarter, dollar gains for fresh produce were below that of total food and beverages as inflation is slowing down rapidly on the fruit side. Additionally, fresh fruit and vegetables lost share to frozen and canned as consumers emphasized price and shelf-life. Total produce department patterns have an impact on commodity-specific patterns also.

For the four weeks ending January 1^st, 2023, fresh mushroom dollars decreased 6.8% year-over-year and volume declined by 11.9%. In calendar year 2022, dollars were down 4.2% versus year ago and pounds 10.6%. Dollars remained ahead of 2019 in both the shorter- and longer-term views, but pounds are now 3.0% behind those of 2019 in the year-to-date views and 10.4% in the quad-week view versus pre-pandemic.

Fresh Mushrooms	4 weeks ending 01/01/2023	VS. 2021	VS. 2019	2022	VS. 2021	VS. 2019
Dollars	$100 million	-6.8%	+2.0%	$1.3 billion	-4.2%	+8.6%
Units	32 million	-14.4%	-14.4%	$431 million	-10.6%	-5.5%
Volume	21 million	-11.9%	-10.4%	$272 million	-10.6%	-3.0%