The article describes the performance of the market for fresh foods in both the pound market and the dollar market. According to the article, fruit supply has been on the decline in the previous year. Prices per pound that were in the market at the time of the sales were higher than this in the previous period by 3%. This implies that the decline in the number of sales may have resulted from the poor response in the increase in prices. This phenomenon is known as demand elasticity. This is the general property displayed by all fruits. However, the article provides an analysis of the performance of each fruit from a selected category. Apples, oranges, pears, and grapes are some of the main fruits mentioned in the article.
According to information presented in the article, Apple sales fell by 12% in pounds and went up 8.2% in dollars. The market for apples is elastic. From the data, the pound market has been influenced by the increase in prices which has resulted in a sharp decline in demand for apples and subsequently sales and production. The dollar market grows by 8.2% as it retains prices per dollar. For oranges, both the price per dollar and piece per pound went down. The market elasticity has a value of 1.2 which implies that the market is elastic. Changes in prices will affect the demand and supply of oranges in the market. For the pears market, the prices went down in the pound market and up in the dollar market. This market for pears shows elasticity. This is attributed to the possibility that decrease sales and demand in the pound market are caused by the increase in prices. For the grapes market, the sales and demand went down in both the dollar and pound market. Therefore, the market shows signs of elasticity. The elasticity value for this market is 1.72 which is greater than 1. The pear market shows signs of elasticity. The elasticity in this market has a value of 2.5 which is greater than 1. Customers react to changes in the prices and supply of pears in the market.
The article agrees with findings from a study on the elasticity of the fruit market. Changes in prices and supply of fruits change the behavior of customers. From the analysis of data in the study, a conclusion is reached which supports the elasticity in the fruit market. The article and findings from the study also agree on the elasticity in the grapes and oranges market. According to both the research and article for both the grapes and oranges market, the changes in prices affect the behavior of customers. The article and findings from the research disagree on the elasticity in the apples and pears market. According to the article, both apples and pears market is elastic while finding from the research indicate that the market is inelastic.
A study by Durham & Eales (2010) concluded that the fruit market is elastic. This is in agreement with findings from the article and research. The study also concludes that the apple market is inelastic. This differs from findings from the article but agrees with findings from recent research. The study also shows the inelasticity in the market for oranges. This finding is in agreement with both the research and the article. The study by Durham and Eales also concludes that the market for pears is elastic. This is in agreement with findings from the article but disagrees with findings from recent research on the market. According to a study by Kate & Julian (2012), the market for grapes is relatively elastic. This is in agreement with the findings from the article and the study.
References
Tom Burfield. (2017, July 24). Produce prices down in California. Econ.
Fuller, K. B., & Alston, J. M. (2012). The demand for California wine grapes. Journal of Wine Economics, 7(2), 192.
Durham, C., & Eales, J. (2010). Demand elasticities for fresh fruit at the retail level. Applied Economics, 42(11), 1345-1354.