Broccoli supply is extremely light as the industry transitions growing regions from Salinas, California to the Yuma, Arizona region. "The supply is comparable to last year's numbers at this time," says Paul Marcroft, broccoli commodity manager/salesperson for D'Arrigo California. "Depending on how Salinas ends and Yuma season begins, we expect lighter supplies in the first few weeks of November."
The Salinas season is wrapping up earlier than expected which in turn has prompted an earlier start to the Yuma season as well. It is a challenging time of year from a weather perspective. "Cooler mornings can lead to delays, either due to ice or slower growth, which impacts our ability to get product to size on time," says Marcroft. "This is critical as we work to mitigate any supply gaps in the coming weeks."
Salinas is expected to be finished by November 25th and Yuma should be fully underway at that time. The two regions will start to slightly overlap starting next week.
In addition to these two regions, the Imperial Valley/Coachella and Mexico are also shipping broccoli right now.
Demand expected to stay strong
So how is the demand for broccoli? "It is relatively high this week and will likely stay strong through the beginning of next week, particularly as retailers continue to ramp up for Thanksgiving," says Marcroft, who adds that consumption is expected to stay strong through the end of the year–particularly with the holiday season on the horizon. "Broccoli typically sees high demand in the winter months, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas falling close together this year, I anticipate a minimal drop-off after Thanksgiving, followed by another demand spike about 10-12 days before Christmas."
As for pricing, while it has been steady over the last several weeks, it's jumped up over the past two weeks due to that lighter supply and higher demand. "The Thanksgiving demand is coming at a time where industry is seeing lighter supply which is driving prices," says Marcroft.
Looking ahead though, as Yuma production gets going, supply should improve. "The product is on the smaller side so we aren't able to get in and reach ahead of schedule to increase supply just yet," says Marcroft.
For more information:
Morgan Tinari
D'Arrigo California
Tel: +1 (831) 455-4440
[email protected]
www.andyboy.com