Kern Ridge sees steady market
Kern Ridge sees steady market
It’s been a volatile winter for vegetable supplies as a series of East Coast storms has altered consumer buying habits. Carrots, like the other vegetable items from the West Coast, are affected though it manifests itself in demand rather than pricing.
“It has been a very strange demand situation for the past six weeks,” said Chris Smotherman, who sits on the sales desk for Kern Ridge Growers LLC, which is headquartered in the southern San Joaquin Valley town of Arvin, CA. “One week has been very, very slow and the next week our capacity is being run over by demand.”
Talking during the last week of February, the veteran salesman attributed the situation to the bad weather. He theorized that because of the storms, shoppers stay home and then there is a letup and they flock to the stores to stock up, creating the roller coaster effect in demand. While some vegetable items react to these demand fluctuations with equal fluctuations in price, Smotherman said the carrot market does not react that way. “The market has been fairly steady and I expect it to stay that way,” he said.
The company has not added any new packs this year but will continue to offer both conventional and organic carrots in a variety of packs and sizes. The carrots are packed in a variety of bags and consumer packs ranging from one-pound to 10-pound packs. Loose carrots are also offered in a variety of bags and cartons. The company’s cut and peeled carrots are bagged in increments ranging from one ounce to five pounds. The firm also offers a 12-ounce microwavable bag. The company also sells juice carrots in 25- and 50-pound bags.
The company’s conventional labels are: “Kern Ridge,” “Morn n’ Fresh,” “Nature’s Gold” and “Gold n’ Crisp,” while its organic carrots are packed under the “All Natural” label. The firm has customers all over the country but it is especially strong in the Los Angeles market as well as the Northwest region.
A handful of years ago, Kern Ridge Growers, which is close to 40 years old, added a citrus-packing operation to its Arvin facility, which gives it an opportunity to create its own citrus/carrot mixed load for many customers. The two items are compatible especially at this time of the year when both are in very good supply.
