COVID-19 and retail and food service sales trends in 2021

Aug 17, 2021

Data Highlights in Trends in Retail looks at retail and food service sales in the first quarter of 2021.

‘COVID-19 public health measures and social distancing during the first and second waves of the pandemic significantly affected food service sector sales,’ explains Jeewani Fernando, provincial consumer market analyst with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. ‘The easing of measures after the first wave helped to improve sales of all sub-sectors in the third quarter of 2020. However, with second wave measures, sales of first quarter 2021 declined by 8% compared to sales of fourth quarter 2020. Compared to first quarter sales of 2020, the same quarter sales in 2021 declined by 15%.'

In terms of total value, annual quarterly sales for the first quarter of 2021 for drinking places (alcoholic beverages), full service restaurants and special food services restaurants recorded significantly lower sales with 45%, 27% and 39% respectively. Limited-service eating places is the only category that recorded a 1% sales increase.

Retail food and beverage stores sales were down in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. While grocery stores recorded a 6% sales reduction, specialty food stores and beer, wine and liquor store sales recorded a 32% and 20% reduction respectively.

‘Record sales reported in the fourth quarter of 2020, probably because of seasonal buying and uncertainties around the second wave of COVID-19 public health measures, may be the reason for the decreasing sales in the first quarter of 2021,’ explains Fernando. ‘Consumers were stocked up.’

However, annual quarterly sales were down by only 1% for grocery stores and 3% for specialty stores. Annual quarterly sales for beer, wine and liquor stores recorded a 17% increase.

The Data Highlight section of Trends in Retail provides quarterly updates of retail and food service sales in Alberta.

Source : alberta

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.