This season's New Jersey spinach crop was early due to warm spring weather. Volumes have been average, quality has been good and prices have recovered after a brief dip.“An early spring brought the crop out early,” said Scott Wulderk of The Fresh Wave. “Weather has been good since the start of the season, but that also put us two weeks early.”
That good weather has made for excellent quality and supplies similar to previous years. Prices were good at the beginning of the harvest, which began in late April and will run through June, but dipped several weeks into the season.
“Prices are starting to pick back up,” said Wulderk. “They started strong, went low, and now they're back up.” He noted that prices have been in the range of $12 per carton of bunched 24s.
That price is, more or less, average, according to Vince Consalo of Consalo Farms. Those market conditions match a season that has been similar to previous years, except for the timing.
“The season's looking pretty good,” he said. “We have moderate volumes and average prices. The only thing different is we're running ahead of schedule.”