Supplies of sweet potatoes are tightening up as they do at this time of year with growers waiting for new crop to come on. Nick VanBerlo of Berlo’s Best, who grows sweet potatoes in both Ontario, Canada and North Carolina, says there are a few regions that have dwindling supplies of old crop with average quality. “We are about a month away from harvest. We’ll make it through until our new crop is ready but there’s certainly not a whole lot out there,” says VanBerlo.
In Ontario, the crop will start mid-September. “That crop looks fantastic. We’ve been lucky to miss a lot of the rain and heat that the other parts of the country have experienced. We’re sitting in really good shape and if Mother Nature can continue to cooperate, we’ll be set,” he says, adding that it continues to expand year over year. “We still see a lot of domestic potential and we’re starting to see some of the efficiencies of our expansion three years ago.”
Less NC acreage
At the same time, North Carolina’s crop also looks strong. However acreage is down dramatically across the state--VanBerlo says state wide there’s about a 20 percent reduction in sweet potato acres planted. “The biggest reason is global competition. Some export markets such as Egypt and Spain are now producing domestically. That’s been a growing trend over the last 10 years. Europe is also a market that’s less than half of what it used to be,” he says.
Meanwhile for demand, while it’s still steady, VanBerlo says July and August are not historically big movement months for any root vegetable crops. “People are more concerned about corn and watermelon and field tomatoes right now,” he says. “As the weather starts to turn in the fall, we see a very big bump in demand by the middle to end of September. That also coincides with Canadian Thanksgiving.”
All of this is leaving a vast range of pricing right now depending on region, quality and supply. However, the price is generally holding. “The costing is becoming tougher and tougher. We were hit really hard on a margin basis over the last two years with our costs going up exponentially and getting a fraction of that on the other end,” says VanBerlo. “We’re still playing catch up in pricing but we also realize we have to stay competitive. You can’t price yourself out of the market either.”
For more information:
Nick VanBerlo
Berlo’s Best
Tel: +1 (519) 426-1500
[email protected]
https://berlosbest.com/