Despite predictions that 2011 would be the year of the pie, pie sales in supermarkets declined during the latest 52 weeks ending Sept. 24, 2011. Nationally, the category averaged weekly per-store sales of $644, a decrease of 0.9 percent.
The pie category includes specialty/gourmet, fruit, open face, mini/sliced/half, cream/custard, tarts, meringue, lattice and other pies. Pies accounted for 6.3 percent of in-store bakery sales, a 0.2 percent decrease from the previous year.
The week ending Nov. 27, 2010, posted the highest sales for pies, $3,589 per store per week, driven by the Thanksgiving holiday. This was a 1.4 percent decrease compared to the week of Thanksgiving 2009. The Christmas and New Year’s holidays also drove sales for pies, posting $1,629 per store per week and $1,004 per store per week, respectively. The week ending Jan. 29, 2010, was the lowest selling week with average per-store sales of $442.
The East and Central regions outperformed the national average, selling $889 and $772 per store per week, respectively. Both regions’ average weekly sales increased slightly versus a year ago, the East region by 0.7 percent and the Central region by 0.3 percent. The South region’s average weekly sales of $527 per store per week increased slightly by 0.9 percent. But the West region’s average weekly sales, $593 per store per week, decreased 6.4 percent. This was driven by a 7.6 percent decline in specialty/gourmet pies’ average weekly sales.
Within the pies category, specialty/gourmet, fruit and open-faced pies made up 67.2 percent of dollar sales. Compared to a year ago, specialty/gourmet and open-faced pies’ average weekly dollar sales decreased 2.9 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. Fruit pies’ average weekly dollar sales decreased by 0.2 percent. Tarts, meringue pies and lattice pies, which made up 14.4 percent of category share, also saw average weekly sales decrease versus a year ago.
Mini/sliced/half pies, with 8.9 percent of category share, and other pies, with 0.7 percent of category share, were the only pie categories to increase average weekly dollar sales compared to a year ago, rising 6.6 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.
With the holiday season in full swing, pies are a major focus in the bakery department. In the 52 weeks ending Sept. 24, 2011, 18.6 percent of pie dollar sales occurred the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
One way supermarkets can boost pie sales is to put effort toward increasing the number of households that purchase pies. In 2010, 30 percent of households purchased a fresh pie from the in-store bakery. Within those households, consumers purchased pie an average of 2.4 times per year, according to FreshFacts® Shopper Insights powered by Spire. In-store bakeries should consider capitalizing on the growth in mini/sliced/half pie sales during the last year to attract more small-household shoppers to the pie category and spur more non-holiday purchases occasions.
This sales review is provided by the Perishables Group, Inc., a Chicago-based fresh food consulting firm. Reported results are for Oct. 2, 2010, through Sept. 24, 2011, representing more than 61.5 percent of nation supermarket ACV share. For more information, contact the Perishables Group: Kelli Beckel, 773/929-7013; email: kelli.beckel@perishablesgroup.com
