Growers see good crop of California garlic as harvest gets underway
Growers see good crop of California garlic as harvest gets underway
California's garlic harvest is now underway in the Coachella Valley, and preparations were being made for the harvest in the San Joaquin Valley when The Produce News talked with some garlic growers and packers on Monday, June 18.
"The California crop looks good this year," with "nice size" and "about average" yields, said Kelly Marione, division manager for Orlando-based Spice World at the company's Coalinga, CA, plant.
"We already started cutting on the early garlic this week," he said. Windrowing will follow, and the packing will probably start the second week of July, depending on how hot the weather is and how long it takes the garlic in the windrows to cure.
Acreage for the company is "about the same" this year, he said. "There's no increase."
"We will be starting to dig garlic out of the ground probably right around the first of July," said Bill Christopher, president of Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, CA. "We expect to start packing around the Fourth of July."
The California crop "looks real good" this year, he said. The weather has been dry and "the lack of water is not going to hurt us at all. We are pretty much done with our watering in the San Joaquin Valley, so the shortage of water in that area won't affect us at all for this year. Yields should be about the same as last year. Size looks pretty good."
In California, garlic acreage is "down a little bit overall, maybe about 10 percent," Mr. Christopher said. "But the yields look good, so there is not going to be any shortage of California garlic this year."
Regarding imported garlic, "Argentina is all done" for the season, Mr. Christopher said. "The Mexican garlic is coming in, but the prices are pretty high because the domestic market in Mexico has been pretty good all year, so they are not flooding the United States with cheap garlic. The garlic that is coming in [to the United States] is relatively expensive, so we are able to compete with that this year."
According to Mr. Marione, the Chinese garlic "is due in" shortly. He said that he has heard China has "a nice crop and prices are down."
Mr. Christopher said that "China's new crop is starting," and there are "still some remnants of the older stuff they are trying to get rid of now." The new crop usually begins arriving in the United States about the end of July, he said.
Chinese garlic "came in pretty steady all last year," he said. "It was the first year that there was more Chinese garlic sold fresh in the United States than California garlic, and it looks like that trend is going to continue. We don't see that slowing down, unless something happens where the government has enough manpower to do more checking at the ports and stop some of the fraudulent stuff that is coming in."
Christopher Ranch, which handled Chinese garlic for a time on request from certain customers, has now discontinued putting its name on Chinese product.
"We don't buy any more garlic from China," Mr. Christopher said. "We have our name to stand behind. We used to put our name on some of the Chinese garlic. Some of our customers wanted it. But now Christopher Ranch stands for California garlic, and that is what we are going to promote. It is going to cost a little bit more than the Chinese, but it is going to have better flavor and be more consistent and a safer product for everybody."
Recent disclosures regarding food-safety issues with products from China contributed to Christopher Ranch's decision to discontinue handling the Chinese product, he said.
"We are really promoting garlic because of all the safety aspects, and also the fact that California garlic has more flavor," Mr. Christopher said. "The Brix levels are higher, and the allicin (a flavor component) is higher than imports either from Mexico, Argentina or China."
Christopher Ranch's Patsy Ross told The Produce News that the company had commissioned some third-party testing of garlic flavor properties.
"One of the things that sparked it" was chefs who were specifying California garlic because "they said they believe that there were some real flavor differences between the imports and California," said Ms. Ross. "So we started doing a little bit of research." It was found that California garlic "has a much higher Brix count than imported garlic" from Mexico, Argentina or China, and that allicin, a phytochemical associated with garlic's distinct flavor, was also higher. "We think these things go hand in hand with flavor," she said.
"The California crop looks good this year," with "nice size" and "about average" yields, said Kelly Marione, division manager for Orlando-based Spice World at the company's Coalinga, CA, plant.
"We already started cutting on the early garlic this week," he said. Windrowing will follow, and the packing will probably start the second week of July, depending on how hot the weather is and how long it takes the garlic in the windrows to cure.
Acreage for the company is "about the same" this year, he said. "There's no increase."
"We will be starting to dig garlic out of the ground probably right around the first of July," said Bill Christopher, president of Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, CA. "We expect to start packing around the Fourth of July."
The California crop "looks real good" this year, he said. The weather has been dry and "the lack of water is not going to hurt us at all. We are pretty much done with our watering in the San Joaquin Valley, so the shortage of water in that area won't affect us at all for this year. Yields should be about the same as last year. Size looks pretty good."
In California, garlic acreage is "down a little bit overall, maybe about 10 percent," Mr. Christopher said. "But the yields look good, so there is not going to be any shortage of California garlic this year."
Regarding imported garlic, "Argentina is all done" for the season, Mr. Christopher said. "The Mexican garlic is coming in, but the prices are pretty high because the domestic market in Mexico has been pretty good all year, so they are not flooding the United States with cheap garlic. The garlic that is coming in [to the United States] is relatively expensive, so we are able to compete with that this year."
According to Mr. Marione, the Chinese garlic "is due in" shortly. He said that he has heard China has "a nice crop and prices are down."
Mr. Christopher said that "China's new crop is starting," and there are "still some remnants of the older stuff they are trying to get rid of now." The new crop usually begins arriving in the United States about the end of July, he said.
Chinese garlic "came in pretty steady all last year," he said. "It was the first year that there was more Chinese garlic sold fresh in the United States than California garlic, and it looks like that trend is going to continue. We don't see that slowing down, unless something happens where the government has enough manpower to do more checking at the ports and stop some of the fraudulent stuff that is coming in."
Christopher Ranch, which handled Chinese garlic for a time on request from certain customers, has now discontinued putting its name on Chinese product.
"We don't buy any more garlic from China," Mr. Christopher said. "We have our name to stand behind. We used to put our name on some of the Chinese garlic. Some of our customers wanted it. But now Christopher Ranch stands for California garlic, and that is what we are going to promote. It is going to cost a little bit more than the Chinese, but it is going to have better flavor and be more consistent and a safer product for everybody."
Recent disclosures regarding food-safety issues with products from China contributed to Christopher Ranch's decision to discontinue handling the Chinese product, he said.
"We are really promoting garlic because of all the safety aspects, and also the fact that California garlic has more flavor," Mr. Christopher said. "The Brix levels are higher, and the allicin (a flavor component) is higher than imports either from Mexico, Argentina or China."
Christopher Ranch's Patsy Ross told The Produce News that the company had commissioned some third-party testing of garlic flavor properties.
"One of the things that sparked it" was chefs who were specifying California garlic because "they said they believe that there were some real flavor differences between the imports and California," said Ms. Ross. "So we started doing a little bit of research." It was found that California garlic "has a much higher Brix count than imported garlic" from Mexico, Argentina or China, and that allicin, a phytochemical associated with garlic's distinct flavor, was also higher. "We think these things go hand in hand with flavor," she said.
