With the rising popularity of kale, more and more growers have looked to benefit from the green's high profile. But as more growers increase the amount of kale on the market, prices have gone down.“This is probably one of the slowest seasons we've had for kale,” said Scott Niizawa, commodity manager for Growers Express in Salinas, California. While previous years brought prices between $8 and $10 per 24-count box, current prices are more within the range of $6 to $8 per box. The drop in prices is due to increased supplies brought on by more growers looking to capitalize on the super food label attached to kale. In addition to the popularity of the green, Niizawa noted that the growing properties of kale also make it an attractive option for growers.
“Everyone has been getting in on kale,” explained Niizawa. “It's not expensive to grow, it gives fairly high yields for its cost, so there are so many competitors right now.” Because of the high upside to the crop, Niizawa doesn't know if the drop in price will discourage growers from planting kale in the future, as the prospect of high returns in the future could be enough to offset the relatively low costs to grow the crop.
“We had a whole kale craze,” said Niizawa. “The market was doing well for a while, but with too much supply and not enough demand, the market has been pretty slow.”
For more information:
Scott Niizawa
Growers Express
+1 831 757 9700