Supermarkets push grass-fed beef, organic chicken for July 4th
USDA publishes annual holiday breakdown of retail ads
by Sustainable Food News
July 3, 2018
The USDA on Monday published its annual Fourth of July breakdown of supermarket advertised sale prices of popular meat and poultry products, including grass-fed, free-range, certified-organic, locally grown, halal, kosher and antibiotic-free.
“The Independence Day weekend marks the high watershed of the summer outdoor cooking season and is a significant demand period for a variety of meat cuts for outdoor grilling and entertaining,” the agency said.
The report shows advertised sale prices are shown by region, state, and supermarket banner and includes brand names, prices, and any special conditions. Data is gathered from a survey of 540 U.S. supermarket banners representing 32,400 stores.
Last year, the Fourth of July holiday marked the most active promotional period for chicken cuts, surpassing Memorial Day by 5 percent and Labor Day by 7 percent, the USDA said.
Overall offerings of chicken produced conventionally accounted for 73 percent of all supermarket ad features during the summer, followed by antibiotic-free chicken at 20 percent and organic chicken at 7 percent. Chicken from free-range production accounted for less than a tenth of a percent.
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