“With 1,400 SKU’s we carry all fresh produce items from wherever it makes sense,” says George Pitsikoulis with Canadawide. The company is based in Quebec and carries local items when possible, but sources from various regions around the world to meet year-round demand. Shift in sourcing regions
This past number of months, El Niño resulted in a change in sourcing regions for Canadawide. Usually, lemons are brought in from California and Mexico during the fall and winter seasons. This year however, the program out of Spain was huge. “For the first time, we even sourced out of Turkey as Spain’s lemon production was also somewhat affected by unusual weather. We were forced to look beyond Spain,” shared Pitsikoulis. Going forward, Canadawide will continue to look at Spain and Turkey, but if California’s production is normal and the market is reasonable, the company will continue to source from the US West Coast.
Photo: lemon grove in Spain
Lack of product increased pricing
“The biggest effect of El Niño was the lack of product,” mentioned Pitsikoulis. Delayed shipments and lower supplies during the December through February time frame resulted in dramatic price increases of fresh produce. “In some cases, price points were 30 to 40 percent higher than normal. Additionally, the weakening of the Canadian dollar resulted in higher prices of import product. These dynamics make it challenging and fun to be part of the fresh produce industry,” declared Pitsikoulis.
High prices across the board
January and February had an effect on the consumer price index. Nonetheless, fresh produce consumption numbers continued to be high. “Usually, if a fresh produce item is expensive, people start looking for alternatives for their meals. However, this winter price points of fresh produce were high across the board,” said Pitsikoulis. Celery was in the $70+ range for an extended period of time, but cauliflower and Brussels sprouts were expensive as well. With the change of seasons and production regions shifting, prices have become more reasonable in the past two months. “I really believe this past winter season was unusual in terms of pricing.”
For more information:
George Pitsikoulis
Canadawide
Tel: (+1)514-382-3232