The past year has been one of those periods where the multiple sourcing strategy proved its worth. Over the past year, Valdez said the company’s Peruvian asparagus volume has felt the effects from both El Nino and La Nina weather phenomena. “We have seen less yields and smaller sizes this year but we are still waiting to see how or if it will impact the coming year,” she said, adding that Crystal Valley will have increased volume from Peru this year as it continues to expand to meet customer demand.
Valdez added that the fluid supply situation has made it challenging to predict timing for ad promotions. “As an industry, we made an effort to promote last year; however, we had less volume than expected due to weather,” she stated. “Overall, it seems like the industry will be a bit more cautious and diligent when planning promotions this coming year.”
Valdez said Crystal Valley’s increase in volume will be reflected in both its green and white asparagus offerings because “this coming year we will be growing both our green and white asparagus programs out of Peru.”
Like most of the other importers interviewed, Valdez is closely watching the progress on relaxing the fumigation rules. “To date, there have been no changes on the USDA protocols as they relate to organic Peruvian asparagus,” she said. “We currently have an organic program in the spring Mexican asparagus season and we are constantly looking at new areas in the country which will allow us to expand our organic asparagus offering and availability.”