Harvest has begun on conventional celery in Oxnard, California and this season, the category is going to see a few changes.
While supply is anticipated to be steady throughout the season until June 2026, following some difficult markets in recent years, the total acreage for celery in Oxnard has adjusted downward. "The acreage is a pretty sharp change from last year," says Tom Deardorff II of Deardorff Family Farms. "Some of the bigger growers have reallocated their acreage so there's a lot less in Ventura County in the Oxnard district. Even some local growers like ourselves have cut back a little bit because market conditions were pretty unfavorable last year and celery is a pretty expensive crop. I think people are being more conservative with growing costs and how much of them are being allocated to celery."
© Deardorff Family Farms
The start of the celery season follows better growing conditions than were also seen in the past few years. "The celery looks very good and the season is pretty much on time. There's not been much rain at all and it's more sunny days and warmer night time temperatures that are helping move the crop along," says Deardorff, adding that there has also not been a cold front yet so the vegetable is growing in a warmer Mediterranean climate.
Good celery market
As for demand, even if it holds steady, with less supply the markets will react positively as they already have been. Celery markets are in the low $20s which is considered a good market given there's still good supply, but not an oversupply.
© Deardorff Family Farms
Another change for the company specifically is on the marketing side of the business where the company is retiring its "Sir William" brand after several decades. While the brand change will be across all of the company's vegetables, it is rolling out on celery first. "The brand had become synonymous with high quality conventional vegetables and it was a hard decision to move it into retirement," says Deardorff. " However, our current sales channels have become increasingly familiar with our Deardorff Organics label that was launched in the early 2000's to market a host of organic vegetables. Therefore, we are now transitioning everything to the Deardorff umbrella - Deardorff Organics for organic vegetables and Deardorff Family Farms for conventional vegetables. The logos have a similar look and will be a great compliment to each other."
For more information:
Tom Deardorff
Deardorff Family Farms
Tel: +1(805) 487-7801
https://www.deardorfffamilyfarms.com/
