Research

Attention shoppers: Fruit and vegetable prices rising

The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Timothy Richards about the increase of fresh produce prices due to the three-year drought in California.

2014-09-06

From the Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2014: “The cost of fresh produce is poised to jump in the coming months as a three-year drought in California shows few signs of abating, according to an Arizona State University study set to be released Wednesday. The study found a head of lettuce could increase in price as much as 62 cents to $2.44; avocado prices could rise 35 cents to $1.60 each; and tomatoes could cost 45 cents more at $2.84 per pound. (The run-up in produce prices is in line with other projections showing that overall food cost gains are expected to accelerate this year.) The latest projections were compiled by Timothy Richards, an agribusiness professor at ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. He studied the drought’s effect on farmland and consumer purchasing trends to determine the eight fresh fruits and vegetables likely to see the largest price increases this spring and summer.” Read more About Timothy Richards: Timothy J. Richards (Tim) is the Morrison Chair of Agribusiness in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He holds an undergraduate business degree from the University of British Columbia, where he majored in Economics and Finance, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Stanford University. He has published more than 85 articles in top economics, marketing, and agricultural economics journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics, Management Science, the Journal of Retailing, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and several others. He has won eleven Article of the Year awards, and is on the editorial boards of four journals. The focus of his research is quantitative marketing, data analytics, retailing strategy, and food policy. He also does extensive consulting work in the food retailing and manufacturing industries for clients that include Walmart, Kroger, SuperValu, Hormel, Sara Lee, JBS Swift, Foster Farms, and a number of others.

Agribusiness