At www.freshfruitportal.com we are pleased to announced the launch of a new price section that will help give you a better idea of mark-ups in U.S. retail markets.

In conjunction with Sonoma, California-based U.S. Marketing Services, the reports provide a weekly snapshot of how different fruit prices fare across four key retailers in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

U.S. Retail Prices can be accessed by clicking here, or find it in the 'Fruit Prices' section on the top-left side of the Fresh Fruit Portal home page.

U.S. Marketing Services owner Mike Gretz says the information is useful for growers, marketing boards and trade associations to understand how their products are reaching consumers.

"Another advantage of our data is it's very fast. We have people in the stores on Wednesday and Thursday, they send in the reports and we have them ready the next week," he says

"We also can do additional research into the marketing space given, POP  (point of purchase) materials and quality ratings.

"A lot of the time different commodity boards use us to see whether their brands are in stock, or if competitors are in stock, and from the prices they can see what margin the retailers are getting."

He says exporters to the U.S. could also use the information for their own research needs.

"They can see how their product is going versus when the product is not in season. For example, Chilean grapes are in the market now, and when Chile is out of season they can see what retail prices Mexican and Californian grapes are getting."

Gretz will also provide occassional insights behind the data. For example, for the most recent report for Jan. 16 he notes the absence of Chilean avocados.

"A growing trend, particularly with avocados, is that Mexican avocados are so economically priced that they’re pricing Chilean avocados out of the market.

"Large avocados averaged US$1.41 at retail while small were at US$1.07."

He highlights that the majority of canteloupes have been from Guatemala, while honeydews were also from that country along with product from Mexico and Honduras.

Photo: Wal-Mart

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