California winter vegetables could be tight for Thanksgiving

Supplies of some California winter vegetables, lettuces in particular, could be a tad tight as Thanksgiving approaches, but availability should be good on others, and volume overall should increase by Christmas, grower-shippers say.

The lettuce shortfall started as the Salinas season wound down, said Mark Munger, senior director of marketing for Castroville, Calif.-based Ocean Mist Farms.

“In Salinas, it’s been a rough end to the season,” he said. “There’s a really severe virus that’s impacted the Salinas Valley.”

Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus — or INSV — kills lettuce when it’s in its mature stage, just before harvest, Munger said.

“It’s really knocked the leaf lettuce down.”

There have been “prolonged record prices,” he said, but those high prices aren’t really benefiting suppliers because much of the product was sold at previously contracted prices, which were much lower, he said.

Prices for 24-count cartons of romaine lettuce were in the $80 range in early November, according to the USDA. A year earlier, they were less than half that.

Munger said they could get into the $90 range later in the month.

Eventually, Ocean Mist will source out of Yuma, Ariz., but that program won’t start in a meaningful way until Thanksgiving week.

“It’s really made the November holiday season tricky on leaf lettuce,” Munger said.

Salinas, Calif.-based Coastline Family Farms also was experiencing reduced lettuce yields due to soil diseases, said salesman Mark McBride.

“We’d hoped the start of the desert deal would offer some relief, but this isn’t the case,” he said. “Since demand is so strong, all Yuma shippers are starting on very young, lightweight romaine and leaf lettuce in an effort to cover their contracts and core customers.”

Early lettuce fields were showing seedstem formation because of hot temperatures, necessitating early harvest while the plants are immature, he said.

“This is prolonging the reduced overall supply and may lead to lower supplies in the coming weeks, including the holiday pull weeks for Thanksgiving,” McBride said.

Disease troubles were surfacing with California celery as well, said Michael Boskovich, salesman for Oxnard, Calif.-based Boskovich Farms.

“There’s definitely going to be a shortage on celery because of issues on the ground,” he said. “There’s going to be more demand than supply.”

Stephanie Cantero, communications and marketing coordinator for Salinas-based The Nunes Co., said broccoli and cauliflower could be in short supply due to cooler than normal weather.

The company was transitioning to its Arizona and Mexico desert growing areas in early November, which was somewhat earlier than usual, she said.

Despite the gloomy outlook for some items, growers were optimistic about other commodities.

“This is the time of the year where we shine,” said Oscar Guzman, director of marketing and sales for Los Angeles-based Progressive Produce LLC.

There are plenty of holiday staples like potatoes, onions and asparagus available, and quality looks “solid,” he said in early November.

Progressive Produce sources from Colorado, Washington, California and Idaho during the winter.

The company also is seeing steady sales on organic potatoes, onions and citrus.

The Nunes Co. will ship 40 conventional and 30 organic products this fall and winter, Cantero said.

The company’s core items include organic and conventional romaine, iceberg and leaf lettuces, cauliflower, broccoli and celery.

Celery, broccoli and cauliflower are especially popular during the holidays, she said.

Coastline Family Farms will continue to ship its full line of more than 25 products this season, including iceberg lettuce, broccoli bunches and crowns, cauliflower, naked and sleeved celery, romaine cartons, romaine hearts, green and red leaf lettuces, green onions and a full line of bunching items, McBride said.

The company started its desert deal in Yuma the first week of November with iceberg and romaine lettuce.

“Our home for the winter season is Brawley, Calif., in the Imperial Valley for all of our items except iceberg lettuce and romaine,” he said.

The Brawley program should start right after Thanksgiving.

About 75% of Ocean Mist Farms’ winter volume comes from California’s Coachella Valley, Munger said, and 25% comes from Yuma.

The transition to Coachella from the Salinas area was expected to take place by the third week of November for most items.

Ocean Mist may be known for its artichokes — it’s the largest artichoke grower in North America, Munger said — but the company also ships 30 other items, including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, leaf lettuces: iceberg, romaine, romaine hearts, yellow and green leaf lettuce, spinach; and some specialty items like anise and escarole.

Despite tight supplies of lettuce, volume of many major holiday items, like Brussels sprouts, celery and spinach “are right on target” from Ocean Mist.

“We have great volume and really good quality on those items leading into the holidays,” Munger said.

Boskovich Farms will have onions, radishes, kale, romaine hearts and beets from Mexico, Boskovich said. And the company grows parsley, cilantro, spinach and celery year-round in Oxnard.

Like their counterparts everywhere, California grower-shippers were doing their best to cope with inflation.

“We really have seen cost increases at all levels,” Munger said. “We’ve all had to have tough conversations with our customers to try and improve our pricing.”

Ocean Mist Farms is focused on sustainability and is trying to reduce the cost of inputs and become more efficient in its operation, he said.

Munger seemed optimistic.

“I’m starting to feel a certain amount of confidence that we’re seeing the increases slowing,” he said.

The cost of doing business also has gone up significantly for Coastline Family Farms, McBride said. “We are dealing with rapidly escalating costs of all inputs into our farming operation,” he said.

This year, fuel, fertilizer and packaging are leading the pack on increased costs, McBride said. “The industry did work through supply issues of both pallets and corrugated cartons,” he added.