US: Weather tightens sweet potato market

A rainy harvest season combined with cold weather delaying shipments throughout the U.S. and to Europe has made for diminished volumes of sweet potatoes. The resulting disparity between supplies and demand have made for increased prices.

“The biggest issue right now is that there are delays for shipments all across the Atlantic,” said Steven Ceccarelli of Farm Fresh Produce. Based in North Carolina, Farm Fresh is a grower and packer of sweet potatoes, and they ship their product throughout the U.S. and Europe. But this year, noted Ceccarelli, the shipping delays the weather has caused have made the market for their potatoes exceptionally tight.

“The weather is the biggest concern for us right now,” said Ceccarelli. “I could have floated 30 containers of sweet potatoes last week, but we were only able to do half of that because of limited packing days and a diminished ability to get the product to port.” Further complicating the situation has been the state of this season's crop. While warm, dry conditions are optimal for the growing and harvesting of sweet potatoes, the most recent growing season was saddled with many rainy days. That hampered production and has made for less quantities available for sale. Those factors have made for many customers not getting as much potatoes as they'd like, and when they are able to get the product they want, they often have to pay higher prices.

“Prices have increased significantly,” said Ceccarelli. “We need to slow down the demand we're getting because we only have one crop to sell, and when we run out, that's it.” In order to ensure that they can deliver on the promise of providing supplies of sweet potatoes throughout the year, Ceccarelli said they have to increase prices in order to pare down demand.

“Customers are not happy with the price increases, but I can't control the weather or the ripple effect that it has had on the market this year,” said Ceccarelli. “This is the time of year when we normally try to get more business, but it's very disappointing this year to tell people I can't take on new business because we don't have the supplies for it.”

For more information:
Steven A. Ceccarelli
Farm Fresh Produce
Tel: +1 910-508-8933
Email: steven@farm-fresh-produce.com
www.farm-fresh-produce.com