There’s good news for truckers, your loading opportunities, plus on the home front when comes to buying fresh produce at your local supermarket.
For the second consecutive month, a leading recent indicator in retail food inflation shows prices for fresh fruits and veggies fell in November. However, prices ares still on track to post among the largest increases over the past decade, according to government data.
Supermarket prices for fresh fruits and vegetables fell in November. Average retail fresh fruit and vegetable prices fell 1.2% last month from October levels, according to updated Consumer Price Index data released Dec. 16 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. October prices were down 2.7% from September.
Compared with a year ago, fresh fruit and vegetable prices were up 3.8% for the first 11 months of 2011 and posted average year-over-year increases of 4.8%, placing the category on a pace for the biggest annual increase since a 5.2% jump in 2008.
Fresh produce prices declinedl in recent months amid increased production of apples, pears and other crops. Prices for many items surged earlier this year after cold weather that cut production of tomatoes, oranges and other crops. More recently, apple supplies have risen over 2010 levels in part because of a strong crop from Michigan.
Rising volume with produce items, combined with lower prices should help spur consumer buying, resulting in more demand at shipping point. This should translate into increase loading opportunities for haulers of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course, there’s many other factors, depending upon the economy, unemployment, etc.