Broccoli Gets Its Day in the Sun as Sales and Price Continue to Grow

Broccoli, so hated by former President Bush that he banned it from Air Force One, is a darling of the vegetable patch.

Studies that show it contains a cancer-fighting chemical and packaging innovations that make it easier for consumers to prepare, have helped boost broccoli sales at a time when overall vegetable consumption is flat.

Experts believe the popularity of broccoli will continue to grow, despite a steady increase in the retail price of the crunchy vegetable.

Broccoli sales have been climbing since 1994, when shippers introduced packaged, pre-washed broccoli and broccoli florets ready for stir-fry. Broccoli still accounts for a tiny fraction of vegetables Americans eat annually--per capita, they are expected to consume 145 pounds of potatoes this year, compared with 7.9 pounds of broccoli. But broccoli consumption has jumped more than 16% since 1994, while overall vegetable consumption has grown 2%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Experts attribute much of the growth to the popularity of easier-to-use cuts.

“Convenience has become an important thing,” said Gary Lucier, a USDA economist. The Grocery Manufacturers of America found in a recent survey that convenience in food products was second only to taste in importance.

Broccoli’s taste thrust the vegetable into the limelight in 1990, when then-President Bush banned it from the presidential jet. Broccoli growers responded by bombarding the White House with 20,000 pounds of the vegetable.

Lori Koster of Salinas, Calif.-based Mann Packing Co. said the publicity briefly lifted broccoli sales.

Broccoli got a further boost in 1992, when a John Hopkins University study found that broccoli contains sulforaphane, a chemical that can help inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors. The produce industry and USDA publicized those benefits in a joint campaign aimed at dietitians, schools, store owners and food editors. The campaign also stressed that consumers should eat five servings of fruits or vegetables a day.

A greater consumer appetite for broccoli has pushed the retail price per pound 27% higher than it was in 1994. Many consumers are willing to pay $2.49 to $2.69 a pound to get pre-washed broccoli tops, or crowns, more than double the cost of a pound of broccoli.

“Retailers have caught on to [its popularity] and have priced it as a hot item,” said Tom Koster, Mann’s broccoli sales manager.

A spokeswoman for American Stores Co., the owner of Lucky supermarkets, said its markup on broccoli is similar to that of other vegetables, and changes weekly depending on whether wholesale prices move up or down. Representatives of the area’s other large supermarket chains couldn’t be reached.

Broccoli growers have seen their revenue swell, according to USDA statistics. The agency said that average revenue for 1996-1998 was $484 million, 24% higher than the average revenue for the previous three-year period. Wholesale prices have risen 12% in the last five years, according to USDA figures.

But shippers in California, the leading broccoli-growing state, say their profit margins haven’t increased. Rising land, seed, labor and equipment costs, coupled with increased competition, have kept their margins relatively flat.

Economist Lucier says he expects broccoli consumption to continue to rise in coming years, because growers are planting more and because word of its health benefits will continue to spread.

“The more people hear these health messages, the more they take them seriously,” Lucier said.

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Broccoli Boom

Health-conscious consumers are eating 16% more broccoli, while overall vegetable consumption in the U.S. had increased just 2% since 1999. In pounds per person annually:

Broccoli

1999 estimate: 7.9 pounds per person

*

All Vegetables

1999 estimate: 452.4 ponds per person

Source: USDA Economic Research Service