Hot veg market could be short-circuited by national unrest

Some supermarkets around the country have been subject to looting and shut down because of the protests. Just how much disruption the protests cause could determine how high the market price goes. “Looking at the supply situation, broccoli and cauliflower should go much higher,” he said.

Mark McBride of Coastline Family Farms, based in Salinas, CA, also noted strong sales on many different vegetable items, which he said was a welcome sight for growers. “This has been an unusual year, to say the least,” he said, on June 1.

He noted that the coronavirus pandemic has led to an inconsistent ordering situation through much of the spring and the industry also went through a long period of oversupply, which caused a depressed market for many items.

McBride said the current situation is favorable for growers. Reluctant to predict how long it will last, the veteran Coastline salesman said there is a substantial list of items with good markets as June dawns. “Supplies are heavy on green leaf, red leaf and green onions, but most other items are looking good right now,” he said.

He agreed that the biggest culprit was planting interruptions in the March/April time frame. Besides inclement weather that affected planting schedules, he noted the coronavirus shutdowns began at that time and many growers adjusted their acreage a bit because of the uncertainty and loss of foodservice business. He added that those planting adjustments have continued all spring, even if only at a minimal level.

“Another thing is that growers have a tendency to reduce their acreage for the summer because of the home-grown deals all over the country. It’s not just one factor,” he said. “There are several things that have combined to make these good markets. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and not make a lot of predictions about how long it will last.”

McBride said that supplies should remain fairly steady over the next couple of months, indicating that he is not expecting a spike that would result in an oversupply of product. He did opine, however, that it would be prudent to expect that the short-lived local deals around the country did not cut back their acreage due to the coronavirus.

“I don’t know for sure, but those growers have one crop for the year; you would think they wouldn’t cut back,” he added.

Further south, in Oxnard, CA, Russell Widerburg, sales manager at Boskovich Farms Inc., also welcomed the solid vegetable market that greeted June. “All things considered, we have a relatively good market for many items.”

He did single out green onions, a mainstay at Boskovich, as an item with a depressed market because of good supplies. “All the bunch items are doing well. Spinach is good. Brussels sprouts and bok choy, celery and lettuce have good markets.”

Widerburg said Boskovich did lose a significant percentage of its foodservice business this spring with the closing of that sector by COVID-19, but that is starting to come back. “Luckily, retailer and wholesaler demand has been better than usual.”

He noted that restaurants in Ventura County, where Boskovich is headquartered, started reopening in late May, and the company’s orders from foodservice distributors have seen an uptick in the last 10 days. “We are expecting that business to start to come back,” he said.