Analysis of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Sales at Retail

Joe Watson VP of Retail, Foodservice & Wholesale International Fresh Produce Association headshot "After spotting sweet potatoes and garlic among the fastest growing items in September, a bit of investigating once more proved the power of TikTok. Sweet potato sales appear to be boosted by the TikTok hot honey sweet potato beef bowl that pairs roasted or air-fried sweet potatoes with seasoned ground beef, avocado, cottage cheese and hot honey. The spicy pickled garlic TikTok trend involves marinating pickled garlic cloves in sriracha sauce, chili flakes and thyme. The latter is also growing in dollars, units and pounds. The lesson is clear: monitoring social media trends and moving quickly to capitalize on viral recipes can result in measurable sales growth. And perhaps more importantly, lead to new commodities purchased and new habits formed."

- Joe Watson, IFPA’s VP of Retail, Foodservice and Wholesale

September 2025

What's New

Consumer Concern Leads to Subdued Spending Across the Store

Sentiment dips: U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since May, according to the University of Michigan. The Consumer Sentiment Index declined to 55.1 in September, down from 58.2 in August, as inflation and job security concerns weighed on confidence.

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Spending softens: Consumer caution is reflected in moderating sales. Year-to-date, total retail food and beverage unit sales were up slightly (+0.7%), but fell to zero gains in the third quarter. In September, dollar growth slowed to just 2%, while unit sales declined 0.5%.
Category performance: Center-store grocery saw a 1.0% decline in unit sales, while perishables inched up 0.3%, primarily driven by meat, fruit and deli-prepared food gains.
Channel shifts: Club’s share of total food and beverage unit sales has risen to 5.8%, up from 4.7% in 2021. Online sales grew to 4.9% from 2.5% in 2021, while supermarkets’ share declined to 42.1% from 47.3%.
Shopping behavior: Trips rose 3.1% year over year in September, averaging 17.3 grocery visits per household. To manage budgets, consumers purchased fewer items per trip (-1.6%), averaging 8.8 items.
Foodservice dynamics: Restaurant sales continued to face trip declines combined with value-seeking. Similar to retail, 30% of commercial foodservice traffic over the past 12 months was driven by deals, per Circana. With consumers using digital coupons and loyalty apps, $10 has become the new “sweet spot” for value. Breakfast remains the most economically sensitive daypart, with many consumers skipping or eating at home.