With Thanksgiving in sight, there are concerns about dry vegetable availability and pricing. "We're dealing with transition issues. It's a bit of a volatile market on squash, both zucchini and yellow squash, but also with the pepper deal. Green, red, yellow and orange peppers are also in transition," says Neil Mazal of East Coast Farms & Vegetables.
© East Coast Farms & Vegetables
As he notes, growers on the West Coast are transitioning dry vegetable production from the northern growing areas in California such as Salinas back down to Yuma, Arizona. "On top of that, there has also been recent weather issues in the West and there are also some quality issues. Labor costs and availability are also challenging Western growers almost to the same extent it's challenging growers in the East" Mazal says, noting that cauliflower has recently seen pricing as high as $50/box and broccoli and leafy green markets are also elevated. Green peppers are pricing between $20-$22 from the West Coast. "As we approach the Thanksgiving pull, we're going to see higher costs generally on produce items, until at least after the Thanksgiving pull because that's when you have high volume."
There are also logistics concerns ahead–namely around trucking but especially driver availability. "Drivers tend to want to get home for the holidays. As you approach Thanksgiving, you start to see drivers looking for loads that bring them close to home for their delivery, and then they come down off the road. So from Thanksgiving to New Year's, it tends to be a challenge for abundant truck supply, especially with owner operators," says Mazal.
East Coast production
Looking at other regions for dry vegetable availability, production on bell peppers is winding down in Georgia and readying to transition to Florida. Florida has started picking in a small way. However, it is probably two weeks away from good volumes from the state.
© East Coast Farms & Vegetables
Growers in Mexico have also seen some challenges. "There has been some bloom drop on squash–hence there's a $16-18 dollars zucchini market, which is unusually elevated. Yellow squash is not quite as expensive but still elevated," he says, adding that supply on both zucchini and yellow squash is improving and moderating price points are expected from Nogales shippers.
On top of this, concerns continue over what demand will look like following numerous reports of soft demand for produce items in recent months. As he notes, while demand is up significantly for food at food banks, those organizations receive product in one of two ways: it's donated or it's purchased. However food bank budgets are also being curtailed.
"There's a lot of uncertainty in the economy in general. The stock market seems to be booming while the local economy seems to be challenged," says Mazal. "The uncertainty in the economy and the general business atmosphere is challenging our industry more than a lot of other industries, because of the perishability of what we sell."
For more information:
Neil Mazal
East Coast Farms & Vegetables
Tel.: +1 (561) 286-0286
[email protected]
https://www.eastcoastfarms.us/