Coming off big volumes of imported blackberries during the latter part of April, supplies of berries coming from Mexico have dipped. With fewer berries available, prices have firmed.“Blackberries are one of the more volatile market items you can find,” said Dave Federle of Dave's Specialty Imports. “Two weeks ago, you had pretty high, almost peak production, from Mexico, and then the weather affected projections so numbers dipped. We have just about enough volume to cover commitments and not much else for the spot market.” As recently as April 29, 202,000 flats of blackberries made it to the United States from Mexico, and that daily shipment number dropped to 66,000 flats by May 4.
Prices have adjusted to recent scarcity of product. On May 5, prices for a flat of blackberries were between $10.00 and $12.00 at Mexico crossings through Arizona, California and Texas. Federle noted that he'd seen prices range from $6.00 to $9.00 as recently as a couple of weeks ago. With more awareness on the part of consumers about the health benefits of all berries, demand and consumption have continued to rise.
“The market should come off again later this week or early next week,” predicted Federle. “Volumes should come back on then after the Mother's Day pull.”
For more information:
Dave Federle
Dave's Specialty Imports
+1 305 603 7988