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Retail Bakery Products

Total retail bakery production in the United States actually fell by 6% between 2007 and 2008. Most other bakery product categories saw a rise in production from 2007 to 2008. The market size listed here is not a retail sales figure it is a production value and should be seen as more akin to a wholesale figure.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007 and 2008
Market size: $3.060 Billion and 2.876 Billion respectively
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures 2008, March 30, 2010, available online here
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Fishery Production

Total fishery production includes the domestic catch as well as imported sea food—fin fish and shell fish. The domestic catch represents 45% of total production and imported fish (fin and shell) represent the remaining 55%.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007
Market size: 20.5 million lbs.(live weight)
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Table 861, December 2009 [Online] here
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, National Marine Fishery Service.

Small Hedge Fund Market

The global financial crisis that started in 2008 has had enormous ramifications of many sorts. Not surprisingly the financial sector itself has seen quite a lot of restructuring in the period since then. One area of great change has been the number of small hedge funds in existence. According to a New York Times article on the subject, many such funds are being closed down so as to eliminate their recent history of returns, or, more accurately, lack thereof. Then, the same people behind these funds simply open new funds with a clear record. Clearly this does not occur with most such small hedge funds since their numbers have fallen by 30% (and assets under management by approximately 21.5%) since peaking in number in 2007.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007 and 2010
Market size: 12,000 and 8,400 funds respectively
Source: “Hedge Fund Managers Set Up for New Act,” September 17, 2010, pg. B1, New York Times [Online] here
Original Source: Heidrick & Struggles

Computer Training Centers

The number of educational service providing establishments in the United States grew by 20% between 2002 and 2007, from 49,319 establishments to 61,385. However, the number of establishments dedicated to doing computer training—from how to use computers to networking and programming them—actually fell during the period. While this may have been explained by there having been a consolidation within the sector, fewer but larger establsihments, it turns out that was not the case. Employment within this particular sector of educational services—computer training—also fell, from 29.3 thousand to 17.4 thousand.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2002 and 2007
Market size: 2,988 and 2,211 establishments respectively
Source: “2007 Economic Census: Sector 61: Educational Services,” June 29, 2010, available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Institutes of Higher Education

This market size measures the number of degree-granting institutes of higher education. The enrollment figure excludes students taking classes by mail, radio or TV as well as students attending branches of U.S. institutions operated outside the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2006
Market size: 4,352 Institutions enrolling 17.76 Million students
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Table 271, December 2009 [Online] here
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census and the U.S. National Center for Education
Statistics

Dog and Cat Food

Dog Food

The market for pet care products in the United States is quite large and according to one study, by the firm Packaged Facts, pet food represented only 33.6% of that overall market in 2008, down from 35.1% of the market in 2004. The market sizes presented here are not retail sales figures. They are figures based on the value of manufacturers shipments, thus closer to wholesale prices.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007 and 2008
Market size: $13.5 Billion and $15.9 Billion respectively
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures 2008, March 30, 2010, p. NA [Online] here
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

E-Reader Shipments

The market for eBooks is growing and so is the market for the devices used to read those books. As is often the case with a new electronic device, e-reader sales and shipments are in an exceptional period of growth and market penetration. Shipments of e-readers more than doubled between 2009 and 2010. The market sizes presented here do not include Apple’s new iPad which is a hybrid device designed to serve as an e-reader as well as a sort of large iPod Touch.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2009 and 2010
Market size: 5 Million units and 11 Million units respectively
Source: The New York Times, Sunday Business, page 3, September 12, 2010
Original Source: iSuppli

Halal Food Market in France

France has the largest Muslim population in Europe. According to the daily newspaper Le Figaro, “spending per household on halal food has grown twentyfold.” The availability of halal foods are increasingly not limited to small local shops. Supermarkets and some restaurants now offer halal foods also. Data are estimated.

Geographic reference: France
Year: 2010
Market size: $5.7 billion
Source: Maïa de la Baume, “Halal Foods Expand Reach in France,” The New York Times, September 8, 2010 [Online] here.

Peanut Consumption

The U.S. Department of Agriculture tracks the production and consumption of a long list of agricultural products, reporting on them annually. The most recent USDA report on peanuts shows that on average Americans eat 6.3 pounds of shelled peanuts (or the equivalent in the form of peanut butter or other products containing peanuts) annually, up a half pound from per capita consumption rates from a decade earlier.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2008
Market size: 2.6 Billion lbs.
Source: Food Availablity: Spreadsheets, February 2010 [Online] here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

U.S. Book Sales Made through “Bricks & Mortar” Book Stores

Traditional bricks & mortar book stores have been losing ground in terms of market share of all book sales in the United States for a decade now. While the total volume of books sold is on the rise, those sold by companies that run bricks & mortar book stores have declined from 61.5% in 1997 to 50% in 2007. The rise of Amazon to prominence in the book selling market is, of course, a significant reason for this shift. Traditional booksellers are working hard to recapture their prominence in the retailing of books by establishing complex networks for selling electronically and selling eBooks.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: $9.71 Billion and $12.33 Billion respectively
Source: 1997 Economic Census: Sector 44: Retail Trade: Merchandise Line Sales: Merchandise Lines by Kind of Business and 2007 Economic Census: Sector 44: Retail Trade: Merchandise Line Sales: Merchandise Lines by Kind of Business for the United States: 2007, October 30, 2009. The 1997 data is available online here and the 2007 data is available online here. The September 3, 2010 Dwarf Planet Press blog post presents these Census Bureau data in a summarized fashion. Here’s a link to that post.
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census