It’s tricky business getting garlic right now.
“Nobody has anything. There’s going to be a bit of a supply shortage,” says Clara Shih of Best Buy Produce in Vernon, California.
Out of China, most of the garlic (and ginger) is from the Shandong region. “And because they are having a bit of a COVID outbreak, not a lot of people are working. We can’t find truckers to move the product so sometimes we miss the boat or miss the containers or can’t get people to come in,” says Shih. She adds that freight rates have also significantly increased from China to the U.S. “From China to the West Coast, it used to be $3,000-$4,000 and to the East Coast, about $5,000. Now it had gone up to $28,000. But it’s coming down a little bit again.”
Protests in Spain
Spain is also supplying garlic, although recent trucker protests there over fuel prices hampered shipments somewhat. “The big peelers are bringing in product from Argentina and Spain to peel,” she says.
She does note that she believes in the future, Spain will become a bigger competitor in garlic. “It has huge acreage and many many growers and their growing conditions are very good,” Shih says. That means an often very dry climate, especially during harvest.
In North America, Mexico is starting to harvest purple garlic and will be doing so for the next three months. “And June is when California garlic gets harvested,” she notes. “But domestic growers can’t keep up either and they don’t have very good production. And then there are problems such as water shortages.”
Numerous logistics issues
Add into all of this complicating logistics factors--anything from longer transit times to equipment availability at the domestic ports. “When the load comes in, we get dinged for not picking up loads. But the shipping line is supposed to give us equipment like chassis before picking up containers,” says Shih. “But they’re not giving chassis and the loads are sitting out there and we’re paying the charges. I used to be able to sell and expect to pull my loads on Monday but now, even though I have all the clearances, it might take me a week to 10 days before I can physically get my product.”
At the same time, demand has been strong for garlic, partly fueled by consumers' interest in eating more healthfully. And altogether this is leaving pricing high, also because of inflation.
For more information:
Clara Shih
Best Buy Produce
Tel: +1 (323) 262-8888
[email protected]
www.bestbuyproduce.com
