Celery prices still up as other vegetables drop
Celery prices still up as other vegetables drop
Declining demand because of cold weather and higher retail prices has caused most f.o.b. prices for vegetables to drop during the first week of February except for celery, which has seen the price skyrocket.
On Feb. 7, the USDA's Federal-State Market News Service reported shipping- point prices of a two-dozen count carton celery at around $32, which is $10 to $12 more than a week earlier. This happened as f.o.b. prices on cauliflower, broccoli, leaf items and many other vegetables dropped 25-40 percent.
Since the California freeze in January, f.o.b. prices have climbed, which in turn caused retail prices to climb. Combined with the cold and icy weather gripping the nation, demand for many vegetables has taken a seasonal downturn in the last week.
"We are very surprised that demand for celery has stayed high," said Rick Alcocer, vice president of vegetable sales for Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc. in Salinas, CA, which is one of the nation's larger celery suppliers.
Confirming that the supply-and-demand situation for most other vegetables has righted itself, he said that celery demand continues to increase. Mr. Alcocer said that celery has always experienced strong demand in November, December and January. And in recent years, the Super Bowl weekend has added to the demand situation because of the "tremendous amount of food that is served from Friday through Sunday," he said.
But for the week following the Super Bowl, Duda expected demand to drop and for celery prices, which have been strong for more than six months, to start to come back to normal. Instead they have gone in the other direction. "To be honest with you, we are surprised. We are pulling [supplies] from four regions," he said, mentioning California, Arizona, Texas and Florida. "And we are at peak of production in a couple of those areas."
Mr. Alcocer was not entirely sure why demand is up, but he suspects that overall industry volume is down. He said that relatively speaking, celery is an expensive crop to grow, and last year was not a good season. "I do think there is less in the ground" than there was last season.
Different varieties of celery are grown in many different regions around the country, but there has typically been lots of production in the coastal regions of California stretching from Oxnard to San Luis Obispo. That area has also been a hot real estate market with coastal land bringing top dollar.
Mr. Alcocer quipped that in recent years "it's been real estate development vs. planting a celery crop, and real estate has won."
As he surveys the upcoming supply situation, the Duda sales executive does not expect celery supplies to change much over the next several months. He said that Duda will remain steady and he expects the same for the rest of the industry. However, he also cautioned against giving too much weight to the Market News Service quoting of spot market celery prices.
While those prices are accurate, he said, like most vegetables the majority of celery is sold on a contract price basis, so the actual price paid by major retailers is much less than the $32 being quoted on Feb. 7.
On Feb. 7, the USDA's Federal-State Market News Service reported shipping- point prices of a two-dozen count carton celery at around $32, which is $10 to $12 more than a week earlier. This happened as f.o.b. prices on cauliflower, broccoli, leaf items and many other vegetables dropped 25-40 percent.
Since the California freeze in January, f.o.b. prices have climbed, which in turn caused retail prices to climb. Combined with the cold and icy weather gripping the nation, demand for many vegetables has taken a seasonal downturn in the last week.
"We are very surprised that demand for celery has stayed high," said Rick Alcocer, vice president of vegetable sales for Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc. in Salinas, CA, which is one of the nation's larger celery suppliers.
Confirming that the supply-and-demand situation for most other vegetables has righted itself, he said that celery demand continues to increase. Mr. Alcocer said that celery has always experienced strong demand in November, December and January. And in recent years, the Super Bowl weekend has added to the demand situation because of the "tremendous amount of food that is served from Friday through Sunday," he said.
But for the week following the Super Bowl, Duda expected demand to drop and for celery prices, which have been strong for more than six months, to start to come back to normal. Instead they have gone in the other direction. "To be honest with you, we are surprised. We are pulling [supplies] from four regions," he said, mentioning California, Arizona, Texas and Florida. "And we are at peak of production in a couple of those areas."
Mr. Alcocer was not entirely sure why demand is up, but he suspects that overall industry volume is down. He said that relatively speaking, celery is an expensive crop to grow, and last year was not a good season. "I do think there is less in the ground" than there was last season.
Different varieties of celery are grown in many different regions around the country, but there has typically been lots of production in the coastal regions of California stretching from Oxnard to San Luis Obispo. That area has also been a hot real estate market with coastal land bringing top dollar.
Mr. Alcocer quipped that in recent years "it's been real estate development vs. planting a celery crop, and real estate has won."
As he surveys the upcoming supply situation, the Duda sales executive does not expect celery supplies to change much over the next several months. He said that Duda will remain steady and he expects the same for the rest of the industry. However, he also cautioned against giving too much weight to the Market News Service quoting of spot market celery prices.
While those prices are accurate, he said, like most vegetables the majority of celery is sold on a contract price basis, so the actual price paid by major retailers is much less than the $32 being quoted on Feb. 7.
