Nearly Uniform Prices of Fresh Produce Products in U.S. Retail Chains and Implications
AAEA members release research in JAAEA
New research finds retail prices of US fresh fruit, vegetable, and meat products are fairly similar across stores within the same chain with a 5% median price difference, compared to a 4% price difference in interior store grocery products within chain.
In the new article “Nearly Uniform Prices of Fresh Produce Products in U.S. Retail Chains and Implications” published in the open access Journal of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, Gregory Astill from the USDA – Economic Research Service and Xiao Dong from the Federal Trade Commission compare the similarities of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat prices across different stores within the same chain.
The authors say, “Recent research has shown that most retail products are priced similarly within chains but has not thoroughly examined fresh products such as produce or meat. We hypothesize that the unique perishable and unbranded nature of fresh produce products present different management, marketing, and supply chain considerations for retail chains, and might lead to more localized fresh produce prices compared to interior store grocery products. However, we find that fresh fruit, vegetable, and meat prices of different stores within the same chain are similar even in different MSAs.”
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ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes three journals, the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (an open access journal), the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.
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