U.S. Fresh Produce Markets: Marketing Channels, Trade Practices, and Retail Pricing Behavior

by Carolyn Dimitri, Abebayehu Tegene, and Phillip Kaufman

Retail consolidation, technological change in production and marketing, and growing consumer demand for produce have altered the traditional market relationships between producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Increasingly, produce suppliers are asked to provide additional marketing services and incentives in exchange for volume purchases and other commitments by buyers. This report synthesizes the results from a multiphase project that examined the dynamics of produce marketing, the produce shipper-retailer relationship, and how changes in the produce market affect the relative market influence of producers, retailers, and consumers.

Keywords: fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh produce, fresh produce marketing channels, supermarket, market power, retail pricing behavior, retail concentration, competition, market structure, trading practices, food prices

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Report summary
• Abstract, Acknowledgments, and Contents
• Summary
• Introduction
• Today?s Produce Industry
• New Relationships Between Retailers and Shippers: Trade Practices
• Retailer Pricing Behavior
• Conclusion
• References