Like other produce suppliers, Boston companies have felt the impact of inflation. Freight costs to Boston from California are up 20% to 25%, said Steven Piazza, managing partner at Community-Suffolk Inc.
Sales are on the rise and fob prices on many items remain strong as Twin Cities-area produce suppliers prepare for what looks to be a promising fall-winter season.
St. Paul, Minn.-based Northwestern Fruit Co. Inc. will kick off the fall with an extensive assortment of products, including local and homegrown zucchini, yellow squash, corn, green beans and peppers.
Organic produce trade organizations seem optimistic about the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden and his appointment of Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture.
From grapes to grapefruit, sales of organic fruit are on the rise, and suppliers anticipate ample volume of good-quality product for the late spring and summer months.
Organic produce sales may be no longer be escalating at a double-digit rate, but retailers, foodservice operators and grower-shippers say movement continues to trend upward.
California’s strawberry crop seemed to be gradually returning to normal volume this spring after a rainy winter that delayed picking early in the season.
The domestic blueberry season was kicking off in mid-April with harvesting already underway in Georgia, said Victoria De Bruin, marketing manager for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.
