Celery was the No. 8 most popular vegetable among The Packer's Fresh Trends 2016 respondents. Fifty-five percent of consumers said they bought celery in the past 12 months, three percentage points lower than the previous year's survey.
Celery hearts are booming at retail. When you compare the number of stores on ad in 2010 to 2011 to five years later, frequency of promotion nearly triples, despite an 18% jump in average advertised price.
In the 52 weeks ending 12/16/2011, “celery hearts” were promoted an average of 592 times per week with an average ad price of $2.15. During that same time period five years later, the average jumped to 1,444 per week with an average advertised price of $2.54.
That's a 144% increase in number of stores on ad despite an 18% increase in price. Promotions for standard celery increased about 40% and advertised price increased about 7% during the same time period.
Need some merchandising tips? Want to know more about celery storage and handling? Visit the commodity page at The Packer's Produce Market Guide.
For display ideas, check out this gallery from the Produce Retailer Flickr page.
