California asparagus expected to be in good supply for Easter
California asparagus expected to be in good supply for Easter
Easter falls on March 23 this year, the earliest date for the holiday since 1913. But despite its earliness, California asparagus growers are confident of having good supplies of asparagus available for the Easter pull, according to Cherie Watte Angulo, executive director of the California Asparagus Commission in Stockton, CA.
"The rain events of the past couple of weeks have done nothing negative to our commodity," Ms. Angulo told The Produce News Feb. 4. In the major growing districts in California, the asparagus sprouts had yet to emerge from the soil. "Everything is still underground," she said.
There are several production regions for asparagus in California. "There is actually minimal production right now in the Imperial Valley," Ms. Angulo said. "But our major production regions are the Stockton-Sacramento Delta, the San Joaquin Valley and the Salinas Valley."
While the actual starting date for the asparagus harvest will depend on weather and soil temperatures, the growers in those districts "are thinking they are going to be in production the beginning of March," she said. "We should be in full production" for the Easter pull.
Anthony Vazquez, director of sales for NewStar Fresh Foods LLC in Salinas, said that Newstar actually expects an earlier start than that. "Last year, we didn't start until the front part of March," he said. This year, "we are looking at gearing up the end of February," with production continuing "all the way through June." That is a fairly normal start time for the company, he said. The rain of recent weeks has had no negative effect on the crop, he said. In fact, "all it does is help."
With production out of Mexico and South America as well as California, Newstar is a year-round shipper of asparagus. This year, Mr. Vazquez expects Mexico and California to overlap with both areas shipping during the Easter pull.
"The asparagus looks good," said Steve Couture, a partner in Couture Farms in Huron, CA, which grows asparagus on the west side of the central San Joaquin Valley. "We have had some nice rains here and some nice cool weather. On our ranch, [the asparagus] is just starting to emerge from the crowns. We think we are probably still two weeks away from starting," and it will probably be "the first of March before we have good, steady supplies." That is a "fairly normal" start date, he said. Production will continue into mid- May, with March and April being the heaviest months.
Mr. Couture also expects to be in good production for Easter. However, "I think the bulk of supply for Easter will come from the Mexican crossings," he said.
California asparagus is facing "a very difficult challenge" competing against imports from countries with lower production costs, Mr. Couture said. Even so, Couture Farms has a new 80-acre block of asparagus just coming into its first year of production, boosting the firm's total acreage to 320. "We'll just keep fighting this battle," he said.
California asparagus acreage, which stood at around 36,000 acres just five years ago, has been trending downward by an average of 15 to 20 percent each year over the past five years, according to Ms. Angulo. This year's California acreage is estimated at around 16,000 acres.
As to the future outlook for the industry, "this year will be very telling," and it will depend on whether growers can make any money, she said.
"A lot of it has to do with the labor supply" as well as the high cost of labor in California, as asparagus is very labor intensive, she said. "Our best guess is that 75 percent of the cost of production of asparagus is labor."
The major competitor for California asparagus growers "has always been Mexico," she said.
But in past years, Mexico typically shipped during December, January and February, then California would "come in strong in March, April and May," followed by Washington and Michigan in May, June and July. Peru was the main supplier from July through "the rest of the year."
But in recent years, all production regions have been extending their seasons, and Mexico can now continue shipping well into the California season if the weather in Mexico is moderate.
"Our message" to retailers, she said, is that "by switching to the California crop, they are guaranteed a fresher, more vigorous crop."
The California asparagus industry has endeavored to improve its competitive position with the development of improved varieties that "grow a longer green spear" while at the same time maintaining quality, Ms. Angulo said. "That has many benefits," among them the fact that the consumer gets "a totally green spear" with no waste. On the production side, it enables growers to send harvest crews through the fields perhaps once every three days instead of every other day. "We are experimenting with those types of new varieties, trying different ways to get a competitive edge," she said.
In its promotion programs, the commission is "continuing on with our old standbys," Ms. Angulo said. "We've got retail programs in place, and we will have our point-of-sales materials. In support of the retailers, we still have a number of services that we provide them, including market reports" sent throughout the season to let the retailers know "what is happening out in the field."
The commission has "a huge library of extremely tantalizing recipes and photography" available for free use by retailers and others, she said. "We just did [a new] photo shoot this past week for recipe releases that we are going to be rolling out throughout the season, and they are wonderful. We have a great team that works on both recipe development and photography."
This year, the commission is embarking on a new program focused on the foodservice industry, Ms. Angulo said. "I am really excited about the new venture that we are entering into. We have limited funds with declining acreage, [so] we have to be much more careful about what money we spend and how far it goes, and we have moved money around ... to put more into our foodservice effort."
The new initiative will involve "partnering with major chains to get asparagus featured on their menus," she said. "We are looking at different food chains that might be interested in partnering with us to feature California asparagus during our season."
Already, "we have really seen some nice results from our foodservice efforts," she said.
"The rain events of the past couple of weeks have done nothing negative to our commodity," Ms. Angulo told The Produce News Feb. 4. In the major growing districts in California, the asparagus sprouts had yet to emerge from the soil. "Everything is still underground," she said.
There are several production regions for asparagus in California. "There is actually minimal production right now in the Imperial Valley," Ms. Angulo said. "But our major production regions are the Stockton-Sacramento Delta, the San Joaquin Valley and the Salinas Valley."
While the actual starting date for the asparagus harvest will depend on weather and soil temperatures, the growers in those districts "are thinking they are going to be in production the beginning of March," she said. "We should be in full production" for the Easter pull.
Anthony Vazquez, director of sales for NewStar Fresh Foods LLC in Salinas, said that Newstar actually expects an earlier start than that. "Last year, we didn't start until the front part of March," he said. This year, "we are looking at gearing up the end of February," with production continuing "all the way through June." That is a fairly normal start time for the company, he said. The rain of recent weeks has had no negative effect on the crop, he said. In fact, "all it does is help."
With production out of Mexico and South America as well as California, Newstar is a year-round shipper of asparagus. This year, Mr. Vazquez expects Mexico and California to overlap with both areas shipping during the Easter pull.
"The asparagus looks good," said Steve Couture, a partner in Couture Farms in Huron, CA, which grows asparagus on the west side of the central San Joaquin Valley. "We have had some nice rains here and some nice cool weather. On our ranch, [the asparagus] is just starting to emerge from the crowns. We think we are probably still two weeks away from starting," and it will probably be "the first of March before we have good, steady supplies." That is a "fairly normal" start date, he said. Production will continue into mid- May, with March and April being the heaviest months.
Mr. Couture also expects to be in good production for Easter. However, "I think the bulk of supply for Easter will come from the Mexican crossings," he said.
California asparagus is facing "a very difficult challenge" competing against imports from countries with lower production costs, Mr. Couture said. Even so, Couture Farms has a new 80-acre block of asparagus just coming into its first year of production, boosting the firm's total acreage to 320. "We'll just keep fighting this battle," he said.
California asparagus acreage, which stood at around 36,000 acres just five years ago, has been trending downward by an average of 15 to 20 percent each year over the past five years, according to Ms. Angulo. This year's California acreage is estimated at around 16,000 acres.
As to the future outlook for the industry, "this year will be very telling," and it will depend on whether growers can make any money, she said.
"A lot of it has to do with the labor supply" as well as the high cost of labor in California, as asparagus is very labor intensive, she said. "Our best guess is that 75 percent of the cost of production of asparagus is labor."
The major competitor for California asparagus growers "has always been Mexico," she said.
But in past years, Mexico typically shipped during December, January and February, then California would "come in strong in March, April and May," followed by Washington and Michigan in May, June and July. Peru was the main supplier from July through "the rest of the year."
But in recent years, all production regions have been extending their seasons, and Mexico can now continue shipping well into the California season if the weather in Mexico is moderate.
"Our message" to retailers, she said, is that "by switching to the California crop, they are guaranteed a fresher, more vigorous crop."
The California asparagus industry has endeavored to improve its competitive position with the development of improved varieties that "grow a longer green spear" while at the same time maintaining quality, Ms. Angulo said. "That has many benefits," among them the fact that the consumer gets "a totally green spear" with no waste. On the production side, it enables growers to send harvest crews through the fields perhaps once every three days instead of every other day. "We are experimenting with those types of new varieties, trying different ways to get a competitive edge," she said.
In its promotion programs, the commission is "continuing on with our old standbys," Ms. Angulo said. "We've got retail programs in place, and we will have our point-of-sales materials. In support of the retailers, we still have a number of services that we provide them, including market reports" sent throughout the season to let the retailers know "what is happening out in the field."
The commission has "a huge library of extremely tantalizing recipes and photography" available for free use by retailers and others, she said. "We just did [a new] photo shoot this past week for recipe releases that we are going to be rolling out throughout the season, and they are wonderful. We have a great team that works on both recipe development and photography."
This year, the commission is embarking on a new program focused on the foodservice industry, Ms. Angulo said. "I am really excited about the new venture that we are entering into. We have limited funds with declining acreage, [so] we have to be much more careful about what money we spend and how far it goes, and we have moved money around ... to put more into our foodservice effort."
The new initiative will involve "partnering with major chains to get asparagus featured on their menus," she said. "We are looking at different food chains that might be interested in partnering with us to feature California asparagus during our season."
Already, "we have really seen some nice results from our foodservice efforts," she said.
