IDAHO FALLS, ID - Even with the shifting dynamics of public events, traveling, and social distancing, we can be sure of one thing: the Super Bowl is on! As one of the key promotional periods across many food industries, the Super Bowl creates an opportunity for category insights to surface and for retailers to take advantage of the products driving consumer decisions.
To get a deeper understanding of what is driving sales at retail, I talked with Steve Lutz, Senior Vice President of Insights and Innovation at Category Partners, to get a breakdown of what past successes and stats might offer us as we look to February and the Big Game.
“Super Bowl weekend has evolved into a significant sales week for supermarkets, and the produce department is a key participant, gaining sales and volume in a number of categories. It's likely we will see the lower lifts in 2021 as consumers are probably less inclined to attend and host Super Bowl events in a COVID environment,” Steve shares.
In a normal year, avocados are the produce department star driving $45 million in sales, up 17 percent over the average of the three preceding weeks, Steve adds.
“Citrus fruits also jump significantly in sales during Super Bowl week. It appears that the lift is a result of increased promotion and availability of key citrus items in late January rather than a boost driven solely by the Super Bowl," Steve says. "Regardless of the driver, tangelos are up 53 percent, limes are up 11 percent, and tangerines up eight percent as well. All surged during Super Bowl week.”
Additionally, pre-packed guacamole and items that are key ingredients to home-prepared guacamole are typical sales winners, Category Partners Powered by Nielsen reports.
“Not surprisingly, produce categories that benefit from consumer-hosted parties and events enjoy a Super Bowl lift,” Steve adds. “In particular, sales of refrigerated salad dressings like Blue Cheese and Cole Slaw, fruit salads, vegetable party trays, and artichokes all seem to get a bump from Super Bowl inspired events.”
As we look to Super Bowl 2021, Category Partners Powered by Nielsen reports that consumers will likely follow traditional behavior and prepare for the game by increasing purchases of key produce items.
“However, supermarkets should anticipate more subdued events leading to slightly lower lifts than normal and smaller transactions as consumers seek to align purchases with reduced participation and smaller in-home events,” Steve concludes.
With these categories driving sales during Super Bowl week, we are excited to see how 2021 fares! In the meantime, retailers, get those produce departments stocked!
