SUPPLY GAPS AND PRICE INCREASES DUE TO WEATHER
Inclement weather all over California means slow growing and harvest crews can’t get into muddy fields to harvest. It’s even raining in the desert growing region in Yuma, AZ, where some bigger growers grow lettuces in the winter. Expect some gaps and price increases from growers this week, but hopefully back down in the next two weeks with some warm weather on the way. This includes sweet baby broccoli, broccoli, leaf lettuces, green onions, radishes and salad greens.
Arugula is very scarce and is susceptible to yellowing and mildew. We may soon see Organic Girl sub Mizuna for Arugula, a delicious mild peppery leafy green, slightly less spicy than arugula. Price and quality do not track side by side. Read more in our Freezing Cold Weather Challenges blog.
Berries: Blueberries are increasing in local availability; we expect to see some blues next month from Homegrown and Betterful with better availability on pints. Strawberries still a number of different labels – AG Berry locally grown in hoops still showing best quality and flavor, and Mexican grown look good but can go south pretty fast. We recommend keeping backstock tight and check your berries often. Blackberry and Raspberry are still catch as catch can.
Citrus: We may or may not see gaps on varietal citrus coming out of the San Joaquin Valley in the coming weeks due to the rain. In particular, we are looking at Navels and Cara Caras. Growers need to wait until the fruit dries out to pick because the flavor has been diluted and the moisture in the fruit can cause skin issues such as clear rot and breakdown. We are keeping an eye on quality.
Onions and Shallots: Peri & Sons is coming up very short this year on white, yellow and red onions and organic supply is extremely limited. Most of the country buys the same organic onions and prices are going up quickly. We are shifting our buying towards Anderson and potentially other labels including some Mexican Onions as we maneuver the gap through to fresh crop in May out of El Centro, California. Mexico is feeling the demand and not much is available with major price increases effective immediately. Onions from Anderson will give a bit of a relief, however there is no stability in onions, and we will see price and volume fluctuations for the next 1-2 weeks. Learn more about tight onion supply through August here.
Peri & Sons will also soon be out of shallots with Coke and Anderson helping to bridge the gap until fresh crop starts up again in May.
Zucchini: Covilli is in a gap between blocks and other Mexican growers are very limited as well, filling in where we can but it’s a bumpy supply.
Cherry Tomatoes: Still very slow production out of Baja, Mexico. Del Cabo, Wholesum, Santa Sweet, and A&A but we can barely keep enough supply in stock. Reserve early! Covilli Mixed Heirlooms are in great supply and we’re hoping clusters will come back down in price by the Superbowl.
Photo courtesy of Lakeside Organics: Rain in the desert makes it impossible for crews to get out and harvest in the muddy fields
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