Organic veg crops tight but supplies increasing

Because of the rains during planting season, organic vegetable supplies have been spotty this spring as volume transitioned from the desert to Coastal California. With the weather warming up, grower-shippers are expecting volumes to increase and prices to fall, but there are still some very high-priced items out there—organic celery being especially challenging.

“Today [May 6], the [FOB] price on organic celery is in the $40s to $60s [per carton],” said Brenda Haught, president of Creekside Organics in Bakersfield, CA. “I don’t think we are going to see any relief on celery until July when the Salinas district really gets going [on that commodity].”

Brenda Haught, President, Creekside Organics

But for most other items, she said, supplies are quickly picking up and even the higher priced items should come down as volume increases over the next several weeks. “This is the first week we’ve had a full slate of SKUs coming out of Salinas,” noted Haught, who pointed out that the company also pulls from other growing districts as well.

According to Haught, the commodities with the best volume and offering promotional opportunities include parsley, all the kales, collard greens and artichokes. “Our organic bell peppers from Coachella [in California’s desert near Palm Springs] also have promotable supplies.”

Haught revealed that organic cauliflower and romaine still have limited supplies with the FOB price on flower in the high $30s, while romaine is checking in around the mid-$40s for the first day of the week of May 6. Both those items, along with red and green leaf lettuce should see greater supplies over the next couple of weeks.

Along with what seems like everyone else in the California vegetable business this year, Haught was reluctant to make any long-term predictions. For starters, the weather has been unpredictable. April saw the typical warming trends and the expectation has been for temperatures to continue to increase in May. However, on Saturday, May 4, much of California was hit with a freak cold rainstorm that ended up dumping more than two feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This ended up being the biggest snow day of the season, much to the astonishment of meteorologists: “Did anyone have the snowiest day of the 2023/2024 season being in May on their winter bingo card?” the University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab facetiously posted on its social media account.

Haught said the supply/demand curve has been tricky this season. “I used to think I had my finger on the pulse of demand and could tell how it was moving, but this season I just don’t know. We have one or two really good days in a week and then it drops off. I just don’t know why,” she admitted.

Gabe Romero of The Nunes Company in Salinas, CA, predicted that organic vegetable supplies will remain sporadic for at least a few more weeks and it could be June before steady supplies are the norm. He also said there are some exceptions to the rule and some items are in relatively good supply, including organic iceberg and some of the other lettuces.  

Gabe Romero, Sales, The Nunes Company

“Romaine is still limited and organic broccoli and cauliflower are on the same roller coaster ride as conventional broccoli and cauliflower,” he said. “They are going up and down every couple of days. I think we are just going to have to live with that through May.”

Romero called out the cool spring weather as the main culprit. The crops are just taking longer to mature because there have been very few days over the last couple of months in which the temperatures have even climbed into the 70s. But Romero said demand on both the organic and conventional sides has also been very strong. “I am a little bit surprised by that,” he said. “We always have good demand during the transition as supplies are spotty but even as the supplies have increased, the demand has not fallen.”

“Did anyone have the snowiest day of the 2023/2024 season being in May on their winter bingo card?” - University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab

Casey Mills, director of commodity management for Braga Fresh Family Farms in Soledad, CA, echoed the comments of the other grower-shippers. “We are still seeing demand exceed supplies on many commodities,” he said. “Organic celery is the tightest, but we are also seeing demand exceeds on romaine, cauliflower, red leaf and green leaf. It’s been cool, but it looks like that is starting to change. Today [May 6] is in the mid-60s, but by the weekend they are predicting temperatures in the high 70s. When we get those warmer days, supplies should increase.”

Casey Mills, Director of Commodity Management, Braga Fresh Family Farms

Mills noted that with the desert deals finished and none of the regional deals starting up yet, “we [Coastal California] are the only game in town, so to speak. There has been really good demand and limited supplies so we are seeing higher prices.”

He predicted that the sky-high celery market will remain in the stratosphere for many more weeks as there are blight issues, which have impacted yields from the desert, Mexico and the Southern and Central California coasts. Mills expects Salinas Valley celery to start coming into play in larger numbers in mid-June, which could alleviate the situation.

“Right now, I don’t see a ton of things out there to promote on the organic side,” he said. “Maybe some of the ancillary items such as organic cilantro and green cabbage.”