These days, people are eating Brussels sprouts faster than Californian farmer Steve Bontadelli can grow them. Despite expanding his acreage beyond the Santa Cruz area, "we still haven't been able to catch up with demand," he said. "The market is still strong. But we're doing our best."
Santa Cruz County had 1,129 acres planted to Brussels sprouts in 2015, according to the county's crop report. Those acres produced about $16.4 million worth of sprouts. About 300 of those acres in the Santa Cruz area have Bontadelli's name on them; other growers he works with have close to 300 acres among them. Through a partnership, Bontadelli has additional land in Oceanside and Mexico for winter planting and harvesting.
"It looks really good," Bontadelli said of his crop. "We started harvesting by hand in July; that's just now winding up as we're moving into the machine harvest part. Quality's been excellent."
As of last week, a 25-pound carton of Brussels sprouts was going for $30, still a high price, Bontadelli said.
"Records have been broken for the last couple of years," he said. "It was $40 for a month last year, which a few years ago was unheard of."
The harvest in Monterey County is looking good, too.
"So far, production here in Salinas and Monterey County has been off to a great start," said Katie Harreld, sales manager and Brussels sprouts commodities manager at Ippolito International in Salinas. "We're seeing very good yields, very good quality, and production continues to pick up each week as we get more and more into the fall and ready for the big holiday pushes we get in November and December."
Ippolito has sprouts growing in Monterey County, Oxnard and Mexico to help keep up with demand. Acreage has increased each year, Harreld said. She attributed the growing popularity of Brussels sprouts to chefs looking for new dishes to prepare.
