This year's garlic season in California ramped up this week as growers in Baja California wrapped up the last remnants of their crop. The market is steady with consistent supplies.“The market is steady with good demand for large sizes for those who have them,” said Eric Pompa of Vessey and Company. He noted that they were sourcing their garlic from Baja California since June up to last week, and the transition from that growing region to California has been a smooth one. Prices for large sizes coming from Baja were in the range of $40 to $45 per 30-pound carton, while prices for medium and small-sized garlic stuck closer to $30 and $20, respectively. Supplies from California have been coming in consistently so far.
“Volumes are where we projected they would be,” said George Chiala of George Chiala Farms. “The season started a little early, but there were some hot spells and then cool and wet conditions that slowed us down, so we're now back to normal.” For the rest of the year, California will supply most of the garlic in the United States.
“It's pretty much all California right now,” said Pompa. “Then there are imports from Argentina, but that's not until December.”