Unfavorable weather conditions during last year's growing season and harvest contributed to current low supplies of sweet potatoes out of North Carolina. Low volumes have made for high prices, but as this year's growing season has been close to ideal, big volumes in the future could make for lower prices.Copious amounts of rain during July of last year kept the fields wet for a good portion of the growing season in 2013. As a result, growers had to delay working in the fields until late into August, and by that time, with the threat of cold weather damaging the crop, many growers decided to cut back on their plantings.
“There was 10 to 15 percent less acreage last year in the state of North Carolina because of the rains,” said Steven Ceccarelli of Farm Fresh Produce. “Because of the fewer acres and the rain, last year we had about 35 percent less production than the previous year.” Because current supplies are drawn from what was planted in 2013, last year's problems have resulted in current sparse supplies of sweet potatoes coming out of North Carolina.
“Usually, a six-kilo box would sell for about $8, shipped to Rotterdam,” said Ceccarelli. “But now it's $11 or $12.” But those high prices are not likely to last into the next season, since the planting season this year has gone much more smoothly. It's likely that the upcoming season's production will be much more than it was the previous season, so more supplies will likely mean lower prices.
“We could have shipped 40 to 60 containers of sweet potatoes a week this year if we had enough supplies, but we were lucky to ship about 20,” said Ceccarelli. “We're going to have a lot of sweet potatoes this year, so it's going to be an easier year from a supply side, but from a sales side, it's going to be harder.”
For more information:
Steven A. Ceccarelli
Farm Fresh Produce
Tel: +1 910-508-8933
steven@farm-fresh-produce.com
www.farm-fresh-produce.com