Twenty percent of Fresh Trends 2017 respondents said they bought Brussels sprouts over the past 12 months, and while that number might have slipped two percentage points since the 2016 survey, retail promotions show no signs of slowing down, especially given the popularity of value-added Brussels sprouts in the marketplace.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Retail Report, the frequency of promotion peaks around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but promotions during other parts of the year are gaining steam. Even with a three-week gap in reporting data, the average number of stores with Brussels sprouts on ad in 2016 increased 70% from just three years prior, from 462 per week in 2013 to 787 per week.
Organic purchase also was popular with Fresh Trends respondents. One third of buyers said they bought organic sprouts at least some of the time, up four percentage points over the previous year's survey.
