Michigan brings in celery from California until season starts in July

With Michigan’s celery not starting until the first part of July, Superior’s spring celery hearts and pascal celery are being brought in from California. 

Celery this past winter has been falling in line with the majority of crops: the market had been running on the low end as far as pricing. “There has been a solid supply and steady demand this winter,” stated Jordan Vande Guchte of Superior Sales. “Recently, the market has turned around as harvest falls behind battling rain as well as seeder, which is typical for this time of the year.” Vande Guchte is anticipating a bit more volume from their Michigan growers this year once they start. “We have multiple growers that do pascal celery (larger sized) and we have one specific grower that grows and packs celery hearts here in Michigan. All of them grow exclusively for Superior retail.” He says the current market shows no sign of relief in the short-term; which will be somewhat beneficial for the six grower/shippers they team up with in California. 

There’s a bit of competition coming from Florida and Mexico but Vande Guchte says they choose to partner predominantly with their California celery growers because of quality, flavor profile, and a working relationship. “We have consistency pulling out of southern California (again). Our suppliers grow a delicious crop that eats well, meets our Michigan expectations, and they listen to our needs. That’s why we partner so much with them.” Once Michigan starts up, California will be producing smaller amounts but Vande Guchte also says that the Canadian import deal comes in around the same time as theirs, which can put a crunch on market prices. 

We see good demand for both traditional celery stalks and celery hearts. “There’s more of an added value to the heart in washing and trimming as the customers (buying them) are usually looking for convenience,” he said. “Pascal is the traditional style celery that we offer both naked or sleeved. In recent years, we’ve seen marketing at the retail level gravitating a bit more towards less packaging and more ‘farm fresh’ or raw presentation,” he explained, meaning there’s a pull to see less material on the products and a desire to see a more fresh (or naked) celery on display. Demand on celery overall is seeing slow and steady growth over the past few years. It’s a matter of retailer’s approach to marketing preference, which sways back and forth over time. There’s still a strong demand for sleeved pascal celery and Vande Guchte says their celery hearts are always sold in sleeves. 

When asked about any changes to the celery industry, Vande Guchte says that it has been more of the same for the product but continual tweaks for packaging. Following the removal of stapled boxes years prior, the main choice continues to be waxed cardboard boxes. (Now glued shut) That being said, some demand by retailers has brought on plastic boxes. “A few customers are demanding a wax-free case because its recyclable (which is great) and we look to reduce our carbon footprint to be as green as possible. Unfortunately, with celery retaining water it proved difficult with standard cardboard when we tried many years ago.” Plastic boxes are still something they’re working on. “Traditional wax boxes are still primary. Nonetheless, customer demand and our drive to be good stewards of the earth has left us exploring other options, which is currently a limited number of plastic containers.” 

Superior Sales will also be starting their asparagus program next week and looks forward to tripling the poundage this season. “Our asparagus farmers invested with growing not only in their field volume but also in expanding their packing facility in New Era, MI. It’s entirely refrigerated and state-of-the-art, built around food safety and our customer needs in an ever-changing market. Our growers are devoting themselves to the future with staying ahead of the curve and packing a ‘Superior’ standard. For us as a team, we couldn’t be prouder to partner and represent them.” The same grower-packer will also take on Superior’s apple program this fall. 

For more information: 

Jordan Vande Guchte 

Ph: (616) 896-6500 Ext. 110