Low-priced Chinese garlic has sold at depressed prices on the U.S. market for most of the last several years, according to John Layous, a partner in The Garlic Co. in Bakersfield, CA. “In the last seven or eight years, we have only had one year, which was two years ago,” that Chinese garlic commanded high prices, he said. With that exception, there have been “six or seven years of very depressed markets for Chinese garlic.”

That, of course, affects the market for California garlic.

But Mr. Layous has some optimism for the 2012 season.

John LayousThe Chinese crop this year is said to be down 30 percent, but “no one really knows that,” he said July 25. “To be frank, I don’t exactly know what to make of the Chinese crop” which had just started to arrive in the U.S. market.

He said he is fairly well convinced that China’s garlic crop has fewer large sizes than usual, and he finds that encouraging. “If that is true, then their yields are probably less than they expected them to be. But I really don’t have confidence in predicting what we could expect to receive here in the United States.”

Early pricing had been “Higher than it traditionally has been,” he said, “but it is hrd for me to predict” where they would go as the season continued.

Still, he said, “if you are a California grower, you have to have a little bit of optimism from the news that is coming in” about a smaller Chinese crop. Based on that, “pricing levels ought to be higher,” he said.

Current pricing could also be a factor of sluggish demand, however. “From what I understand there are not a lot of transactions taking place right now. The people with the garlic want money for it, and the people that buy the garlic are not comfortable paying it, so there is not a lot of movement taking place.” Customers seem to be waiting on a market adjustment.

“But no matter what the adjustment is,” he added, “because it started at this level, I think we can look for higher pricing … than there was last year.”

As for The Garlic Co.’s own crop, “we plant not a very high percentage of Early garlic, but mostly Late garlic,” Mr. Layous said. “The Early garlic we actually finished harvesting, and we are packing it now. It is nice quality.”

The company had just started harvesting its California Late variety garlic two days earlier, on July 23. “For us it is a normal crop,” Mr. Layous said.”I think the quality is good.

The Garlic Co. sells whole fresh bulbs, “but we do more in peeled garlic,” he said.

The Garlic Co.’s acreage this year is “about the same” as last year, “maybe a very slight increase,” he said.

The main people on sales at The Garlic Co. are Bob Lords, John Duffus and Tiffany Manning, daughter of Mr. Layous’s partner, Joe Lane.

The main reasons customers come to The Garlic Co., Mr. Layous said, is “because [they’re] going to get a fair deal and impeccable service. We don’t really lose customers. Once you get in our club, you pretty much stay in our club.”