The Michigan asparagus season is set the begin mid-May. Superior Sales grows their asparagus out of the West Central Region, with a typical start around May 10th. Tyler Hodges who leads the company’s asparagus program says: “This year, I do see a few days delay on the start from a cooler weather forecast that will last into May.”
While there is a cool weather forecast that might delay the start of the season by a few days, Hodges prefers to see more consistently cool weather during the month of April that Michigan is seeing this year. “Early warm-ups can be followed by damaging frosts all too often. I have heard of some frosts in both Washington and Indiana that have curtailed some of their harvests. With harder frosts that set in, it can actually affect yields for the remainder of the season,” he says.
Focus on increasing volumes
Superior Sales has been working on increasing their asparagus volumes year-by-year. Hodges shares: “We’ve represented Michigan asparagus for over 30 years and it’s a program we know and care about very much. It’s the first spring crop that kick starts our Michigan programs, which we’re always excited about. Each year our continued focus leads to increased production, and we’ll see that again this upcoming year.”
While the asparagus demand has been affected by the temporary closure of foodservice establishments, Superior Sales looks forward to the upcoming season. “We’re eager to see what is in store in the coming weeks/months. We’re optimistic for the re-opening of restaurants and our foodservice partners,” Hodges says.
The company also works closely together with labor contractors throughout the year, which has ensured that they aren’t experiencing difficulties with the labor shortages that have been prevalent with other growers. “Our labor is 100% solid for the coming season, and we’re grateful for that,” says Hodges.
US consumers prefer local
Throughout the year, asparagus on the US market comes from only a few origins. The Michigan asparagus season is seven weeks long and represents the largest domestic source of asparagus. The demand in the US market has been good, but, Hodges points out, when there is too much product imported during their season it can put pressure on the markets. “That’s unfortunate, but overall the demand has been good for Michigan,” he says.
While the imported product can put pressure on the market, Hodges explains our demand we see is specific to US Grown. Some will bite on the cheaper imported product with most these days seeing the value in our freshness and quality. Michigan is the only region hand snapping the spears for a more usable product that eliminates the woody textured ends more often found from imported product. US consumers do show a preference to the domestic product when it is available. “You can’t beat Locally Grown, Product of the USA and the freshness that comes along with that. The freshness we’re able to deliver is only available so many weeks out of the year.”
“We are fortunate to start when we do for a number of reasons. We don’t overlap with Caborca with a lot of production coming out of that region. The asparagus is the first item to get started out of the Midwest for the growing year and is often linked with spring, since our season falls in May and June. It brings a lot of excitement and promotion opportunities,” Hodges concludes.
For more information:
Tyler Hodges
Superior Sales
Tel: +1 (616) 896-6500 ext 117
Email: tylerh@superior-sales.com
www.superior-sales.com