Supplies of cucumber look to be tighter out of Mexico. For Produce House LLC, this is a transition time when its shade house cucumbers are coming from the northern region of Sonora. “We’re able to have enough supply to get us through the winter,” says Raquel Espinoza of Produce House, noting that Sinaloa, Mexico is also currently in production. “However, I’m finding that there’s less supply as a whole on cucumbers.”
While there hasn’t been a change in acreage for Produce House, the weather is playing a significant role in this. “We’re being affected by the weather from last year. There were colder temperatures at Christmas, and then even right now, it’s a bit cool. It’s not freezing, but the cooler temperatures have stunted the growth,” she says, noting sizing is trending more towards smaller sizing rather than super or select sizing.
Steady demand for cucumbers
Meanwhile, demand is good for cucumbers. “It has been steady since we started the season back in October,” says Espinoza, noting much of its product goes to the West Coast. “We had very high markets and kind of topped off, but as a whole, we’ve been able to keep our markets steady.”
This is even with stronger pricing. Inflation that’s being seen in the U.S. and Canada is also being felt in Mexico. “So we see higher pricing, but I think that’s a reflection of inflation and less supply all at the same time. Some of these prices are going to become a norm, though they may come off a bit because of the supply,” says Espinoza.
Produce House’s spring crop will go ahead with no changes in acreage in mid-March, and production will run until the end of June. “We hope that weather and all the conditions are there for us to supply the marketplace as we’ve done,” says Espinoza.
For more information:
Raquel Espinoza
Produce House LLC
Tel.: +1 (520) 281-8943
raquel@produce.house
https://produce.house/