There have been some challenges this year getting some holiday items into the warehouse as early in the season as usual, according to Salvatore (Sal) Vacca, president of A.J. Trucco Inc. in New York City.

With several items, “we are having a problem getting merchandise at the moment,” Vacca said Oct. 11.

“Every year, we like to have merchandise ready for the holidays,” and while that may be a little more challenging this year than usual, “I think we are going to do it,” he said. “Right now, it seems it is going to be a little late, but we will have everything that we usually handle.”

One delay in getting almonds and walnuts is not the timing of the harvest but government regulations that the product be pasteurized before it is shipped, Vacca said. “Therefore, we are not getting the products as early as we got them other years.” In the past, Trucco generally had almonds on the warehouse floor by early October, but this year “we still can’t get any almonds out of California,” he said.

“Walnuts are OK,” he said. “We got the first of those this week.” But “it’s getting harder and harder every year that goes by.”

Salvatore (Sal) VaccaFor almonds, “they are talking about the end of October or the beginning of November,” he said. “Some of the customers like to have merchandise in by the 10th of November, and we are going to have to fight and make sure that they do get it.”

It is not a problem with the crops, Vacca said. “It’s the new things that the FDA wants.”

Another factor is the strong demand for California walnuts and almonds from overseas, particularly from China. “the Chinese come in and buy quite a bit of product,” which makes product tighter and also, of course, increases the price.

Walnuts and almonds are not the only items offering challenge this season. Italian chestnuts, long a signature item for Trucco in its holiday offerings, will be in tight supply this year. “The crop is short, so much so that we don’t have anything on the water yet,” Vacca said. “We are bringing in a few shipments by air. Of course, that makes the price even higher because of the freight.”

He expects the available volume of Italian chestnuts to be “down quite a bit,” compared to other years, because “the crop is scarce.” Depending on where in Italy they are being grown, they are anywhere from 20-35 percent shorter than last year, he said.

Some dried fruit items are also presenting challenges. One of those is California Calimyrna figs. “The Black Missions are OK, but the Calimyrna are scarce” because the fresh crop was short, Vacca said. In that category, “I don’t think we are going to have enough product to cover [demand] for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Imported figs, on the other hand, appear to be OK “The Greek figs are normal, and so are the Turkish,” he said.

In addition to those items, Trucco also handles some cranberries for the holiday season as well as dried apricots from Turkey, “which have been fairly good” this year. The company also handles some other mixed fruit, such as pitted prunes, but “not as much as we used to,” he said.

How much holiday demand will there be for nuts and dried fruit for the holidays this year? That will depend on the economy, which will depend a lot “on what the government is going to do,” he said.

“The products that we handle are not essential.” People will buy them if “they have some money.”

It is “a tradition, especially for the Mediterranean and the European. They like to have their nuts on the table for the holidays. But it depends on the situation.” If money is tight or people are without jobs, they will spend less on such items, especially if they are high-priced.