New-crop garlic from California and China hits the market
New-crop garlic from California and China hits the market
The 2006 California garlic harvest is underway, and at the same time imported garlic from China is beginning to arrive in the market.
"This year, the [California] crop looks pretty good," said Louis Hymel of Spice World, which is headquartered in Orlando, FL, and has garlic growing and packing operations in California's San Joaquin Valley. "We started packing just a little later this year than what we normally do, but we expect about a 10 percent increase" in volume.
As of July 21, Spice World was just finishing the harvest of its California early-variety garlic. "We are still doing some clipping in the fields," said Mr. Hymel. "We started packing last week and have both shifts going currently." The harvest of the California late variety will begin in August, he said.
The quality of the crop looks good, Mr. Hymel said. "We don't [expect] any quality issues."
Doug Stanley of Harris Fresh LLC in Coalinga, CA, which grows only the California early variety, told The Produce News July 18 that the company had finished its harvest and was now packing the harvested crop. He said that the crop had good production and the packout was "really nice."
Since Harris Fresh does not handle Chinese garlic, "obviously we are concerned about the Chinese imports, as usual," Mr. Stanley said. "There seem to be a lot of those hitting," because more Chinese shippers have been approved to ship to the United States this summer. "We are just hoping that those guys all kind of keep themselves in check and don't start selling at a loss just to outdo each other."
"We are coming into another new crop of garlic," said Jim Provost of Pure Produce LLC in West Grove, PA, which sources garlic from California, China and other growing regions. "Product is starting to arrive from China and California," he said. "As a result, the market is starting to come down a little bit with the amount of garlic coming into the country right now" in addition to the garlic that is "hitting the market from California." But "that is typical for this time of year," he said.
Again this season, as for the past several years, "there is still the dynamic with the Chinese imports and people trying to adjust with that," he said. Most garlic marketers "now carry both. I think that is where the industry is going now. You have to have all things for all customers."
Ordinarily, there has been a fairly significant gap between the end of one Chinese shipping season and the start of the next new crop. But the Chinese have been improving their cold storage infrastructure and have now "gone almost to year-round storage," just as the California industry has long done, observed Paul Auerbach of Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. in South Hackensack, NJ. "They have tried to bridge that seasonality," he said.
"In other years, there has been a gap and therefore a better winter- to-spring margin for the tail end of the California and South America crops and the beginning of the Mexican crops," Mr. Auerbach continued. How well the market develops during that period depends on how much of a window is provided by the gap in Chinese supplies. "The new Chinese season is just beginning now," he said in late July, "and there was not the gap of supply" in the U.S. market that was expected. China now sells well into spring.
"There were Chinese supplies" from last year's harvest almost up to the start of the new crop, he said.
Auerbach will have both California and Chinese garlic available from now "through the winter," he said.
According to a report from the University of California-Davis Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center, California growers planted about 26,000 acres of garlic in 2004 for fresh and dehydrated markets. The 2006 acreage is generally believed to be less than that as California growers continue to adjust to increased volumes of low-priced Chinese product in the market.
(For more on the garlic deal, see the Aug. 7 issue of The Produce News.)
"This year, the [California] crop looks pretty good," said Louis Hymel of Spice World, which is headquartered in Orlando, FL, and has garlic growing and packing operations in California's San Joaquin Valley. "We started packing just a little later this year than what we normally do, but we expect about a 10 percent increase" in volume.
As of July 21, Spice World was just finishing the harvest of its California early-variety garlic. "We are still doing some clipping in the fields," said Mr. Hymel. "We started packing last week and have both shifts going currently." The harvest of the California late variety will begin in August, he said.
The quality of the crop looks good, Mr. Hymel said. "We don't [expect] any quality issues."
Doug Stanley of Harris Fresh LLC in Coalinga, CA, which grows only the California early variety, told The Produce News July 18 that the company had finished its harvest and was now packing the harvested crop. He said that the crop had good production and the packout was "really nice."
Since Harris Fresh does not handle Chinese garlic, "obviously we are concerned about the Chinese imports, as usual," Mr. Stanley said. "There seem to be a lot of those hitting," because more Chinese shippers have been approved to ship to the United States this summer. "We are just hoping that those guys all kind of keep themselves in check and don't start selling at a loss just to outdo each other."
"We are coming into another new crop of garlic," said Jim Provost of Pure Produce LLC in West Grove, PA, which sources garlic from California, China and other growing regions. "Product is starting to arrive from China and California," he said. "As a result, the market is starting to come down a little bit with the amount of garlic coming into the country right now" in addition to the garlic that is "hitting the market from California." But "that is typical for this time of year," he said.
Again this season, as for the past several years, "there is still the dynamic with the Chinese imports and people trying to adjust with that," he said. Most garlic marketers "now carry both. I think that is where the industry is going now. You have to have all things for all customers."
Ordinarily, there has been a fairly significant gap between the end of one Chinese shipping season and the start of the next new crop. But the Chinese have been improving their cold storage infrastructure and have now "gone almost to year-round storage," just as the California industry has long done, observed Paul Auerbach of Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. in South Hackensack, NJ. "They have tried to bridge that seasonality," he said.
"In other years, there has been a gap and therefore a better winter- to-spring margin for the tail end of the California and South America crops and the beginning of the Mexican crops," Mr. Auerbach continued. How well the market develops during that period depends on how much of a window is provided by the gap in Chinese supplies. "The new Chinese season is just beginning now," he said in late July, "and there was not the gap of supply" in the U.S. market that was expected. China now sells well into spring.
"There were Chinese supplies" from last year's harvest almost up to the start of the new crop, he said.
Auerbach will have both California and Chinese garlic available from now "through the winter," he said.
According to a report from the University of California-Davis Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center, California growers planted about 26,000 acres of garlic in 2004 for fresh and dehydrated markets. The 2006 acreage is generally believed to be less than that as California growers continue to adjust to increased volumes of low-priced Chinese product in the market.
(For more on the garlic deal, see the Aug. 7 issue of The Produce News.)
