Sluggish demand continues to keep the price of cauliflower low. A mild winter made for good supplies, and that, along with continued favorable growing-weather, has further contributed to low prices.“Because of a mild winter, we've had a steady supply,” said Danny Fleming of Beachside Produce in Guadalupe, California. “But we've also seen low demand.” The mismatch between supply and demand has made for low prices. He noted that growers usually require prices of around eight dollars per box to break even, and prices are currently lower than that.
USDA prices on April 25th were reported in the $5 to $7 range for size 9s, in the $6 to $8 range for size 12s and in the $5 to $7 range for size 16s.
The upside of this season has been the quality of cauliflower, said Kevin Jordan of Adam Brothers Family Farms. Production has been steady and quality has been excellent, he said, and although supplies are making it tough on prices, the cauliflower market can quickly change.
“We get a lot of spikes with cauliflower,” said Jordan, “sometimes we have trends that go up, and sometimes we have trends that go down. So we're always optimistic.”
Fleming also believes that, and he said sellers are doing all they can to turn things around.
“A lot of people are trying to get promotions going to firm up prices,” he said, “because we know the market can change fast.”