ANAHEIM, CA — It’s been an interesting couple of months for garlic. U.S. restrictions on the importation of Chinese garlic have affected the domestic market and created an opportunity to shift the dynamics on a global level.

Members of the garlic industry convened at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, here, to talk shop and catch up with friends at the annual Garlic Breakfast.

Empacadora G.A.B. and Christopher Ranch hosted the Oct. 18 gathering, which took place shortly before the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit trade show floor opened. Several industry leaders addressed the current demand-exceeds-supply situation and the implications for the future.

Paul Auerbach, president of Maurice A. Auerbach Inc., said that the past month has seen a very high and short market — though it has come down a bit — and there has been an increased opportunity to sell fresh product in a wider variety of sizes.

Recently there has been greater demand for California garlic due to a lack of Chinese supplies. Things are tight throughout the United States, with low supply and high demand. As a result, the biggest challenge is in managing sales — how much to allocate to each customer since demand is high from all sectors.

And while there is a lack of Chinese garlic in the domestic market, there is plenty available; the problems are regulatory.

Jim Provost of I Love Produce said that Chinese acreage is down a little — possibly 5 percent — but yields are up in the areas that have it, netting a similar crop to last year. A lot of Chinese garlic is going to Brazil since less is going to the United States.

Louis Hymel, director of purchasing and marketing for Spice World, said prices are pretty shocking, and he noted that if China loosens up, it could come down a little. There is a chance that could happen, with roughly 80 containers of Chinese garlic recently released — half near Los Angeles and the other half throughout the rest of the country.

As far as the long-term consequences go, what could be seen as a gap is also the chance to sell high-quality California garlic to customers who would have traditionally purchased Chinese product. Garlic orders still need to be filled, and this provides a tremendous opportunity to showcase the quality of North American product. The scarcity of Chinese garlic could also push the industry to look into non-traditional import locations to meet demand.

Similar to California garlic, there is a strong market for Mexican product.

“Look at this as an opportunity,” said Javier Usabiaga Jr. of Empacadora. “People are going to be trying California and Mexican garlic again and appreciating the difference from Chinese.

“If we service our customers they’ll notice the difference and it’ll make for some very happy people,” he continued.

The current market is an investment in the future: When there is more Chinese garlic available customers will remember the higher-quality product they’re getting now and be able to get it at a price lower than its current rate, according to Usabiaga, who noted that this is a benefit to garlic worldwide, as the European market was able to sell to the United States and Canada, thus lightening its inventory.

Regarding the current market, Javier Usabiaga Sr., secretary of agriculture of the Mexican state of Guanajuato, said, “Let’s just enjoy it and be happy.”