It's been a strange start to the Salinas, California lettuce season. "I believe supply will be constrained for some time," said Mark Vaughan of Fresh Avenue. "Things are moving slow, plantings are generally down because business has been a bit slow over the past year and the leaf lettuce, iceberg, and romaine crops are all behind. Add some of the disease pressure such as the anthracnose with romaine and it makes for a tighter than normal supply for the next four weeks."
That slimmer supply has made for a continued elevated market for a few weeks now following last month's transition from the desert to the Salinas Valley. "Supply is getting incrementally better but we're a long way from plentiful volume on iceberg, romaine, and leaf lettuce," Vaughan says.
Looking ahead to summer
Moving out of that transition and into the main season will help improve supply, though again, Vaughan notes that improvement will be incremental. "There's always 'turmoil' around transition but then supply typically balances pretty quickly. That's not the case this year. I think it's going to take another three to four weeks for things to normalize on the supply side," he says, adding that quality is also improving on lettuce as the weather improves. "With the weather warming up and moving away from that disease pressure on romaine, I think it will be the first few weeks of June when supply becomes plentiful."
As for demand, it's softer. Events such as Mother's Day and graduations will also likely help the movement. "However versus pre-COVID, demand is still a bit tepid," Vaughan says. "I think the economy is certainly weighing on consumer's decisions in what they buy. Dining out has been impacted and grocery sales are a bit weak. Inflation and the economy are having an impact on this industry for sure."
For more information:
Mark Vaughan
Fresh Avenue
Tel: + 1-888-FRESH40
[email protected]
www.freshavenue.com