The 6 Most Commonly Purchased Groceries

During an average week, nearly every household spends money on groceries. But shopping carts are disproportionately filled with only a handful of items. These are the 6 items purchased by at least one-third of households during the average week of 2017...

Percent of households buying item in an average week
1. Fresh fruit: 56%
2. Fresh vegetables: 56%
3. Milk: 47%
4. Bread: 44%
5. Cheese: 39%
6. Prepared food from the supermarket deli: 38%

Bananas are the most frequently purchased fruit (34 percent). Tomatoes are the most frequently purchased vegetable (22 percent). During an average week, nonwhite bread is added to more shopping carts (40 percent) than white bread (35 percent).

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2017 Consumer Expenditure Survey