In season, Ace pulls kale supplies from surrounding states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York. “We don’t have a problem in finding it now—we have folks who specifically grow it for us so that helps,” he says. While it tries to stay close to home in its sourcing, Ace also turns to growers in regions such as Georgia or the Carolinas (and companies such as La Farge, Wisc.-based Organic Valley for premium/retail-quality kale) to keep product in-house year round. “And the East Coast growers we do business with have made a concerted effort to plant kale in their acreage and that was something they’d not done previously at this level,” says Guarino. “Kale has been in our top five SKUs annually for the past five years. In the leafy greens category, kale used to be like collard greens—you sold a few units here and there and now it’s skyrocketed right up there with Valencia oranges, carrots and beets. These are things that we move enormous quantities of to juicing manufacturers.”
Popular and easy to grow
In fact, Guarino sees kale being similar in demand to avocados—easy to move because of demand. “They can turn a field over here locally three to four times a year,” he says.
With the supply being so steady, Guarino says he sees equally steady pricing. “We can get it as cheap as the high teens and rarely does it go above $32 for a premium box,” he says. “There are times when some suppliers will raise and lower the price but I believe that that’s based more on their internal inventory for supply and demand rather than based on the overall market.”
He also adds he doesn’t anticipate any pricing spike given kale’s increasing popularity. “We don’t see that,” he says. “There won’t be an increase in demand and reduction in production like we are seeing in avocados. It’s not easily reversible in that case. Those are trees that need years and years to mature before they drop fruit at all. With kale, you put some seeds in the ground and within a couple of months, you’ve got a box of it.”
For more information:
Paul Guarino
Ace Natural
Tel: +1-718-784-6000
Paul@acenatural.com
acenatural.com