Potatoes at Retail: Monthly Update – January 2021

January 19, 2021

Retail Sales

• Vegetables continued to outperform fruit in sales growth through December. (IRI)

• Potatoes were the most profitable fresh commodity in 2020. (IRI)

• Frozen Foods: Frozen food sales remained at double-digit growth through the end of 2020.

• Frozen Foods: While frozen meals made up the majority of dollar sales, frozen fruits and vegetables still grew by 17.4% in December, with potatoes showing the largest increase in the frozen category. (IRI)

• Total Potatoes from March-December: Since March, potato sales for all potato categories at retail have increased in dollars and volume, except for deli-prepared sides.
  • The largest growth in dollars and volume is the frozen potatoes category, growing by 32% and 27%, respectively.

• Fresh Potatoes from March-December: Even after panic buying subsided, almost all fresh potato types continued to grow.
  • Consumers continued to buy fresh potatoes in all types through the end of the year.

• Looking closer at pack size, consumers continued to buy fresh potatoes in all pack sizes in larger amounts than the previous year.
  • 5-pound bags of potatoes are still the most purchased size in both dollars and volume.
  • 1-4 pound bags of potatoes showed the largest increase in dollar sales and volume sales. It is also the second-largest contributor to both dollar and volume sales in package size for fresh potatoes.

In-Store

• Technology companies, Flooid and Re-Vision, worked together to create a program for in-store personalized shopping for consumers. (Progressive Grocer)
  • The Program allows shoppers to scan and bag their groceries as they go, while providing information on products that match personal preferences.
• Through 2020, consumers made fewer trips to the store but increased their overall basket size per trip. (IRI)
• Traditional grocery stores maintained the highest share of dollars spent throughout the holiday season. (IRI)

Online

• Amazon Prime Pantry was phased out as of January 6, 2020. (Bloomberg)
  • The $5 a month service was transitioned into the traditional Prime membership to stream online services with other non-perishable goods sold on Amazon.
• HEB expanded its online cooking classes into the new year. Meal prepping videos help consumers eat healthy and utilize the ingredients purchased from its grocery store. (HEB Youtube Channel)

• The Fresh Market is utilizing customer service to improve the curbside pickup experience for its shoppers. (AndNowUKnow)
  • The new service-oriented platform is dubbed “The Friendliest Curbside Experience in America.”
• Albertsons/Safeway is piloting a click-and-collect kiosk in the Chicagoland area for easy, automated grocery pickups. (Supermarket News)
  • The trial is set to expand to the San Francisco Bay Area next.
• Harris Teeter created a tiered subscription option to incentivize multiple online purchases and increased basket sizes for the ExpressLane program. (Supermarket News)
• Avocados from Mexico created an online platform to inform and entertain consumers with Super Bowl Recipes and interactive games.

Total Store

• Holiday spending exceeded predictions from the National Retail Federation. (Progressive Grocer)
  • Grocery sales increased by 9.6% compared to the previous November and December.
• Snacking foods consumed at mealtime increased from 21% in 2010 to 26% in 2020. (Progressive Grocer)
  • Consumption of salty snacks such as potato chips increased as a side dish for lunch.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will play a significant role in retail planning into the future. (Progressive Grocer)
  • Bashas’ and Smart & Final have already rolled out AI technologies from Hypersonix to assist with their digital transformation.

• Consumers 18-29 were most likely to purchase organic produce exclusively or periodically, according to The Packer’s Fresh Organic Trends report. (The Packer)