High Brussels sprouts supply means prices have dropped

“The brussels sprout supply seems to be more ample this season,” says Jerry Kowaleski, President of Milwaukee, Wisc.-based, Kleen-Pak Foods, Inc. 

“Prices have been kind of stable. They’re in the low to mid 20s—I think last year they were tighter on supply so prices were higher,” says Kowaleski. “It’s a little lower this year so that must mean there are more of them.”

“Prices are steady,” agrees Cameron Neale, produce broker for Toronto-based SJ Neale Co. Limited. Neale. “It’s good because supply and demand have been almost equal. This year prices are steady in the 20s, anywhere from 20 to 30. Even with the increased demand, it’s still there because of the supply that they’ve planned for and the weather hasn’t affected it.” Overall, Neale estimates, prices are two-thirds of what they were a year ago. Lower prices aren't the only difference Kowaleski has noticed in sprouts, which Kleen-Pak orders from California. “Last year it was hard. They were limiting all the orders because it was so tight,” he says. “I’d order two, three or four pallets of Brussels sprouts and I would only get one or two. It was just a really tight market. There just wasn’t enough supply last year. But this year I’m getting the sense that it’s a little better. 

That’s a welcome development considering that Kleen-Pak, whose bulk business is onions, is coming into the two-week prime selling season for Brussels sprouts: pre-Thanksgiving. “This week and the week after, we’ll really start to see demand,” says Kowaleski. “Thanksgiving is the big Brussels sprout season—that’s when the chains run ads on them and I think it’s always a Thanksgiving thing.”

Neale sees the season extending slightly beyond Thanksgiving. “Brussel sprouts are a big holiday item —they’re popular for Christmas and Easter too,” he says. 

Altogether, it’s a marked difference from the kind of sprout sales Kleen-Pak saw even 10 to 15 years ago. “Back then, we handled more Brussels sprouts because we had more customers in this area,” Kowaleski says. But with grocery wholesalers such as Fleming Foods, the Superior, Wis.-based wholesaler who closed its doors in 2003, the difference is felt. “With chains like that folding up, there are just not as many customers any more,” says Kowaleski.

For more information:

Jerry Kowaleski

415 W Rosedale Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207-1477 

Tel: 414 481-4878 

[email protected] 

Cameron Neale

327 Ontario Food Terminal

165 The Queensway

Toronto, ON M8Y 1H8

Tel: 416-251-0332