It's been a challenging season for Butternut squash. "Since the beginning of the season, there has been an oversupply of hard squash, but particularly on Butternut this year. I haven't seen the Butternut market this depressed for this long," says Raquel Espinoza of Produce House LLC. "It's just never really gotten out of its own way."
That said, she does note that other hard shell winter squash such as Acorn and Spaghetti have been steady in supply this year. "I feel that Spaghetti squash has performed very well this season considering past seasons," she adds.
So what is behind this oversupply? There are a few factors. "Last year there was a shortage on Butternut squash and there was a really good market for it then. I think that's why there's an oversupply this year," she says, noting that it's likely that industry acreage will adjust and perhaps account for a more moderate season next year. "I do feel that there was also some storage around the country and maybe even in Canada that made its way into the market," says Espinoza, noting that demand generally looked the same for hard shell squash.
© Produce House LLC
Weather in Mexico
As for growing conditions, they weren't much of a factor in the oversupply. "Sonora, where we started in October, had excellent weather. There was some rain but production was never affected," she says. Meanwhile when growing moved to Sinaloa there was some rain that affected squash, though that may have helped the oversupply. Production is now back in Sonora and will stay there until the end of June.
So where does that leave pricing? "Everything goes in cycles so what goes down must go up and vice versa. It's been down for so long that the only way it has to go is up at this point," says Espinoza.
For more information:
Raquel Espinoza
Produce House LLC
Tel.: +1 (520) 281-8943
[email protected]
https://produce.house/
