The number of grocery units sold declined nearly 2% year over year in June, marking the fifth consecutive month of contraction, according to analysis from Bain & Company and NielsenIQ. The sustained decline points to shoppers buying fewer items overall, even as prices remain elevated.
This is a meaningful demand signal for the produce industry, which already saw produce post the steepest unit sales decline in grocery last month. When shoppers are pulling back on volume across all of grocery, fresh produce — which tends to be discretionary in terms of variety and quantity — is often an early casualty.
For salespeople and category managers, this reinforces the need to watch promotional strategy and value positioning carefully heading into fall. Continued volume contraction at the store level will put pressure on buyers to be selective about what they're committing to.