While supplies of asparagus will improve soon, logistics in shipping product into the U.S. is a challenge. "The supply of asparagus has been tight for the last two months," says Tim Ryan Jr., VP sales for Square One Farms, LLC. "Strictly speaking on supply, there should be more volume available for the market in about two weeks. However overall year-over-year production has been lower for the industry. It's been down about 15 percent the whole year."
Organic asparagus, primarily produced in Mexico, is also in very tight supply. Increased supply from Ecuador will also be seen in one to two weeks though organic supply is likely to stay on the lower side overall.
The lower production numbers are partly due to high temperatures–over 100 degrees Fahrenheit daily for the last month at least–in Baja California, Obregon, and more. "We specifically have asparagus out of Caborca in about two weeks. With that heat, it's unknown what it's doing to the crowns in the soil," Ryan Jr. adds.
"Strictly speaking on supply, there should be more volume available for the market in about two weeks," says Ryan Jr.
Strike, air transport, and more
Meanwhile, the East Coast ports strike that started this week may throw a wrench into shipments of Peruvian asparagus coming in via Miami. "Two weeks ago, we started ramping up our volume by air to ensure we have product available for our customers in the event that there are challenges getting containers out of the ports," says Ryan Jr., adding that the company has had to fly in a significant amount of product adds to costs. "Air freight is also jumping up in price significantly," he says. "Inbound freight has increased anywhere from .60 cents-$1/lb. That's significant."
At the same time, demand is expected to pick up soon for asparagus as the fall temperatures set in across the U.S. and with the holiday season ahead.
All of this has left pricing historically high. Market pricing in the last week or two has jumped considerably to over $3/lb. delivered and organic asparagus has been in the $50/box range for several weeks now. "It's hard to say how pricing will go. Heading into the back half of October and into November, there should be opportunities to get pricing back to promotable levels–hopefully, the volume will be there to support it. I don't think we'll see a moment this year where the market will be flooded with hyper-aggressive offers. I think pricing will remain higher than historical averages through to the beginning and middle of February," says Ryan Jr.
For more information:
Tim Ryan Jr
Square One Farms, LLC
Tel: +1 (561) 614-2815
http://www.sq1farms.com/