The timing of this year's vegetable crops in California has made for good cauliflower prices. While lettuce crops have also come on at an accelerated pace, prices for those commodities have been less robust.“With the timing and how everything has lined up, it's an unusual situation for springtime products,” said Mark McBride of Coastline Produce. “Our cauliflower and broccoli started a couple of weeks early, and I would say we're in a little bit of a light spot when compared to lettuce, which is in so many different hands and in different areas that there's a bulge there.”
On April 2, prices for a carton of cauliflower white 9s were between $14.00 and $19.50 out of Santa Maria and between $16.50 and $20.55 out of the Salinas-Wattsonville area. Out of Salinas, demand for size 12s was particularly good, with prices for a carton of cauliflower in that size between $18.45 and $22.61.
While recent demand for iceberg and romaine lettuce out of the Central San Joaquin Valley, Oxnard and Salinas range from moderate to fairly good, demand for iceberg lettuce out of Santa Maria has been light. The market for lettuce is fairly steady, and McBride feels that prices for lettuce could improve.
“In the vegetable line, lettuce has been the disappointing one,” said McBride. “Everything else feels a little better going into the weekend, but I think the lettuce market will improve as it gets in fewer hands.”
For more information:
Mark McBride
Coastline Produce
+1 831 755 1430