Supplies of spinach are good right now, though some gapping may be coming soon.
“Supply wise, Salinas and Santa Maria Valley, Ca. are coming in now,” says one California grower. “Both the supplies and the quality of spinach are good.”
He notes that within the month, supplies should increase even more. “It looks like things will become better on the supply side since we’ll see some more activity here in California and Mexico will also pick up in about a month,” says the grower.
Spinach supplies from California grow virtually year-round, though they taper off somewhat in January-February because of the rain and frost. In March, volume generally begins to pick up again.
Fallout from March
That said, some gaps might be coming thanks to the ample amounts of rain the state has been receiving. “It’s a planting gap—so the rain back in March caused a week of delayed plantings and that would be coming into light right now. It would put us behind a week,” the grower adds.
Meanwhile demand is good for spinach. “Typically right now there’s a little bit more activity in the marketplace because the local regions haven’t completely stepped into the market yet with supplies,” says the grower. “So we see a little bit more demand in California for the spring season. And then less demand in the summer because of the locally-grown supplies around the country.”
That’s putting the spinach market currently between $13-$15. “I think it’s a relatively stable market as long as the weather continues to hold."