Last year’s cabbage yields were less than ideal, specifically for growers in New York who’s farms were in the region that experienced extremely dry weather. “We did get some late rain that brought on our storage crop,” said Eric Hansen, VP & Cabbage Sales for Hansen Farms. His storage crop is good and he’s in good shape but expressed that things were very short for the summer and early fall months. The trickle down effect infiltrates industries like sauerkraut; Hansen said the local sauerkraut facility was greatly affected by the low supply.
All Hansen’s storage is contracted volume going for the coleslaw and egg roll market. Much of the egg roll business goes to New York City and Long Island area. Coleslaw is a mixture – it also gets shipped to the east coast all the way to Kansas on a regular basis.
Promotions support demand
“Demand is pretty steady,” he said. Though when certain businesses run promotions on sauerkraut such as Subway Sandwiches, Reuben fall promotion, it has an impact. “Something as simple as that makes a huge difference in that market in terms of demand.” Ideally Hansen says it would be great if that promotion was run more often or even year round. He also says the fermented food market is starting to have an impact. “That’s good for us in terms of demand.”
Hansen has a 12-month supply of cabbage...the current storage crop lasts all winter and spring until new crop starts in early July. He says the benefit of stored vegetables is if he’s going to be short in June he’ll know in November when he starts putting it away. Customers won’t get any sudden surprises of unavailability.
Labour is biggest expense
The government’s H2A program continues to be something growers have to deal with since labour is essentially the number one expense. Migrant workers come into the country and are properly documented through the program. They’re also guaranteed a set wage rate every year, which continues to rise. “When you’ve got labour as your number one expense and it continues to go up every year that’s a tough situation.”
Prices are set in Hansen’s contracts for the year but he says the southern cabbage deal is pretty stagnant right now because there’s plenty of supply coming out of Florida and Texas. His market is around $.10/lb which is below his contract number for this time of year.
For more information:
Eric Hansen
Hansen Farms
Ph: (585) 526-5260