The supply of lettuce out of New Jersey is plentiful right now. "We are definitely heavy on this crop cycle for the fall–a little bit heavier than last year across the board," says Charlie Cade of Consalo Family Farms®, adding that it expanded acreage somewhat this year to meet retail demand. "We have high volume on all the lettuces including romaine, green leaf, red leaf, Boston and more."
This growing season has seen a good amount of sun hours and good heat during the days with cooler nights which has been helping that volume in the region. Harvest in New Jersey began the last week of September and goes until November 15, weather-dependent –that factors in not only the first frost but also the chill hours available for the lettuce.
What isn't seeing as heavy volume is the iceberg lettuce supply. "Not too many growers went in heavy on acreage with it and then it's just been so dry here recently," Cade says, adding that iceberg can be a more challenging lettuce to grow from a moisture perspective. "If we don't get the right amount of rain mixed in, we're not going to be able to keep up with irrigation." That's also because where Consalo Family Farms is located, it's sandier soil and it has a lot longer to run off meaning if there's no rain, plenty of irrigation is required.
East Coast vs. West Coast lettuce
As for demand, produce is moving steadily on this East Coast lettuce which does differ from West Coast product. "We have a robust flavor profile across the lettuce varieties–high crunch factor because of that soil matter and how the full-bodied lettuce absorbs that water," says Cade.
The demand also isn't peaking which Cade says is good. "When tropical storms go through the Southeast region, we ship a lot of vegetables into Florida, North Carolina, etc. Recently that was a big spike in demand–we had to get product down there before the storms and right after the storms and thankfully we had plentiful product to cover it," he says.
As for pricing, on the growing side it's steady while on the sales side, it's competitive given California is shipping lettuce still which does influence New Jersey's market. That said, it's been a fair market. Last year at this time, when California had quality issues and was shorter on supply, the market hit $40-$60. This is a much more average season for New Jersey. Lettuce prices have been steady without issues impacting the market.
For more information:
Chelsea Consalo
Consalo Family Farms
Tel: +1 (856) 839-0264
[email protected]
www.consalofamilyfarms.com