Cauliflower supplies coming from California are moderate right now.
“The supplies are coming from Santa Maria and the Salinas districts,” says Bob R. Cordova of The VegBoss LLC in Orcutt, Ca.
He adds that overall, cauliflower supplies are less this year. “We all anticipated some pretty severe gaps and I think we have them in front of us,” says Cordova. “We went six to 10 days and on a few occasions, we just couldn’t get plants in the ground.”
He also adds that less cauliflower has been planted in the desert region and that the colder winter temperatures slowed the cauliflower growth down. This, in part, led to the market spike seen a few months back. “They were $40 FOB a few months ago. It was pretty incredible,” says Cordova.
California’s cauliflower scene
California looks to be dominating the cauliflower market right now given that Mexico brings in only a little bit of the vegetable and is inconsistent with its supplies, and it’s too early for other regions, such as Florida, Maine or Montreal, to be producing.
Meanwhile demand continues to grow for cauliflower. “It’s been on the rise in demand in the past five years and very strong in the past two years because of things like cauliflower rice, crumbles, crusts,” says Cordova. “It’s findings its way into a lot of uses and I think it’s only going to increase.”
That’s put the market between $10-$16 right now.
Looking ahead, Cordova predicts a “rollercoaster ride” for cauliflower. “What we’re harvesting this week probably wasn’t supposed to come off until next week. You get a little bit of a cold spell that slows things down and then a gap,” he says. “We anticipated some extreme peaks and valleys and we haven’t seen them all yet. I think a few are ahead of us all the way into June. We just have to see if the weather closes it in or not.”
For more information:
Bob R. Cordova
The VegBoss LLC
Tel: +1 (805) 550-6025
bob@thevegboss.com