Impact of China the hot topic at annual garlic industry breakfast
Impact of China the hot topic at annual garlic industry breakfast
ATLANTA -- Sal Vacca of A.J. Trucco seemed to speak for everyone assembled at the garlic industry's Nov. 6 breakfast at the PMA Fresh Summit when he referred to Chinese garlic as "a thorn in our heart."
Others in attendance at the breakfast echoed Mr. Vacca's lament, and few expressed hope of stemming the tide of Chinese garlic imports that continue to plague U.S. grower- shippers as well as those in Mexico.
Bill Christopher of Christopher Ranch said that efforts are ongoing to try to get tariffs in place, but that rallying the federal government around the garlic industry's cause is difficult because the garlic industry is small compared with other crops.
"Having a tariff in place is great, but if you don't collect the duty," it's unproductive, Mr. Christopher said. More garlic came into the United States in 2005 than before there was a duty, he said.
A laxity at Customs continues to hurt the industry. "Customs in New York is a lot easier to get through than Los Angeles," Mr. Christopher said. The garlic industry needs cooperation from buyers, he said.
Chinese garlic is dominant in the jumbo and super jumbo sizes, Mr. Vacca said.
Several industry members said that customers hold back from buying garlic in volume because they anticipate getting cheaper prices on Chinese garlic.
John Layous of the The Garlic Co. said that it is hard to plan ahead because it is hard to know how much Chinese garlic will flood the market. It's difficult to get a handle on how much consumption of homegrown garlic the Chinese are eating, he said.
Jeff Stokes of Christopher Ranch said, "Chefs like the flavor of California garlic better."
Jack Vessey of El Centro, CA-based Vessey & Co. brought up a separate problem - that of a labor shortage. He said that getting the crop out of the ground is going to be a challenge in the Imperial Valley and Yuma, AZ, when the harvest starts around early December.
"I have a serious labor issue," Mr. Vessey said. "Next year I may not get the crop out."
Miguel Usabiaga of GAB in central Mexico said that a lot of garlic is going to Mexico, especially from Argentina. "This is the first time in a long time I'm not optimistic about the Mexican market," Mr. Usabiaga said.
Javier Usabiaga, also of GAB said that the thrust is to differentiate products within the category and to educate the customer to those distinctions. At present, lower- quality products are competing with higher-quality products, he said.
"It's harder to get into the U.S. as a tourist [from Mexico] than it is to get garlic in from China."
Clara Shih of Los Angeles-based Best Buy Produce International - which works with a lot of Chinese shippers - said that for garlic shippers in China who are unscrupulous, it's easy to manipulate the system.
Best Buy works with TransHi, which this year is the only shipper with a zero-duty rate. Unscrupulous competitors jump on the zero-duty opportunity, Ms. Shih said.
"They steal our case numbers," Ms. Shih said. "We're [Best Buy], not the garlic police." Customs sees a zero duty and just give clearance without counting cases, she said. "We [Best Buy] have legitimate reviews," Ms. Shih said. "We work closely with China - we report to Customs."
Some Chinese shippers under-report the size of their loads and thus pay less duty, she said.
Others in attendance at the breakfast echoed Mr. Vacca's lament, and few expressed hope of stemming the tide of Chinese garlic imports that continue to plague U.S. grower- shippers as well as those in Mexico.
Bill Christopher of Christopher Ranch said that efforts are ongoing to try to get tariffs in place, but that rallying the federal government around the garlic industry's cause is difficult because the garlic industry is small compared with other crops.
"Having a tariff in place is great, but if you don't collect the duty," it's unproductive, Mr. Christopher said. More garlic came into the United States in 2005 than before there was a duty, he said.
A laxity at Customs continues to hurt the industry. "Customs in New York is a lot easier to get through than Los Angeles," Mr. Christopher said. The garlic industry needs cooperation from buyers, he said.
Chinese garlic is dominant in the jumbo and super jumbo sizes, Mr. Vacca said.
Several industry members said that customers hold back from buying garlic in volume because they anticipate getting cheaper prices on Chinese garlic.
John Layous of the The Garlic Co. said that it is hard to plan ahead because it is hard to know how much Chinese garlic will flood the market. It's difficult to get a handle on how much consumption of homegrown garlic the Chinese are eating, he said.
Jeff Stokes of Christopher Ranch said, "Chefs like the flavor of California garlic better."
Jack Vessey of El Centro, CA-based Vessey & Co. brought up a separate problem - that of a labor shortage. He said that getting the crop out of the ground is going to be a challenge in the Imperial Valley and Yuma, AZ, when the harvest starts around early December.
"I have a serious labor issue," Mr. Vessey said. "Next year I may not get the crop out."
Miguel Usabiaga of GAB in central Mexico said that a lot of garlic is going to Mexico, especially from Argentina. "This is the first time in a long time I'm not optimistic about the Mexican market," Mr. Usabiaga said.
Javier Usabiaga, also of GAB said that the thrust is to differentiate products within the category and to educate the customer to those distinctions. At present, lower- quality products are competing with higher-quality products, he said.
"It's harder to get into the U.S. as a tourist [from Mexico] than it is to get garlic in from China."
Clara Shih of Los Angeles-based Best Buy Produce International - which works with a lot of Chinese shippers - said that for garlic shippers in China who are unscrupulous, it's easy to manipulate the system.
Best Buy works with TransHi, which this year is the only shipper with a zero-duty rate. Unscrupulous competitors jump on the zero-duty opportunity, Ms. Shih said.
"They steal our case numbers," Ms. Shih said. "We're [Best Buy], not the garlic police." Customs sees a zero duty and just give clearance without counting cases, she said. "We [Best Buy] have legitimate reviews," Ms. Shih said. "We work closely with China - we report to Customs."
Some Chinese shippers under-report the size of their loads and thus pay less duty, she said.
