High U.S. demand greets Peruvian asparagus crop

A month before the Peruvian asparagus season was scheduled to peak, importers already were voicing worries about the market.

“Right now, there is high demand for Peruvian asparagus due to the rains in Mexico, and Peruvian volume is limited as the season is just getting started,” Jay Rodriguez, president of Miami-based Crystal Valley Foods, said in early July.

Some importers said they were anticipating lower asparagus volumes out of Peru this year, at least for the front end of the deal. Rodriguez, on the other hand, said shipments should be about normal.

“Our Peruvian asparagus is good quality this year, and we expect it to continue like this as the season gets started,” he said.

“Volume is expected to be similar to recent years, with volume picking up in mid-September, October and November.”

Weather’s pinch

Rainy weather was a likely culprit in lower asparagus volumes out of Mexico, which has intensified demand for product out of Peru, said Alan Guttmann, general manager of asparagus with Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Robinson Fresh.

“There is a bit of a volume gap until Peru asparagus starts, which has created higher demand. Flooding in Peru earlier in the year may have a short-term impact on volume availability through potentially August,” he said.

Weather has brought serious flooding to Peru this year, but the crop itself probably was largely unaffected, said Priscilla Lleras-Bush, executive director of the Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association.

“Peruvian asparagus quality remained unwavering with minimal loss to asparagus crops — what did affect the asparagus market was the internal logistics to airports and ports,” she said.

“For instance, since the bridges and roadways were radically affected by the weather and completely destroyed, this caused many logistics challenges for exporters.”

A massive bridge and road reconstruction effort by the Peruvian government has largely reconnected the growing regions to the export centers, Lleras-Bush said.

“Peru has overcome the worst flooding in 30 years, and there is bound to be some type of variation in volume for the first and second quarter,” but Peru is on track to deliver excellent quality asparagus for the rest of this year, Lleras-Bush said.

Later in the year, volumes will likely normalize, Guttmann agreed.

“As far as quality out of Peru is concerned, now is the coldest time of year, which makes for better quality,” he said.

“Mexico quality is slightly down with the recent rains and is pushing the demand for higher-quality asparagus to Peru.”

Pricing

On July 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of $18-22 for white standard size asparagus from Peru, with supplies of 11-pound cartons of bunched green asparagus in too few hands to establish a market.

The USDA quotes prices of $36.75-38.75 for 11-pound cartons/crates of bunched green large asparagus from Mexico.

A year earlier, 11-pound crates of green bunched jumbo asparagus from Peru sold for $22, and extra-large sold for $18-19, according to the USDA.

In June, prices were $10-14, with product coming from Canada, Michigan and Mexico, said Jeff Friedman, president of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based CarbAmericas Inc.

“And slowly Michigan left the deal and a week later Canada left the deal and then Mexico and Peru pretty much had the only game in town,” he said.

“That specific timeframe, the weather was pretty decent in Mexico and production was up 40% to 44%. There was plenty of grass in the marketplace. This is one of the few times when I’ve seen it go from $12-14 to the high $20s really, really quickly.”

Pablo Gonzalez, account manager with Seven Seas Global Produce Network, a Miami-based import division of Tom Lange Co., said he was seeing higher prices in early July.

“Right now, it’s really tight,” he said.

“Prices today are about $30-31 on standard; $31-32 on large and $35-36 on jumbo. Usually, a price should be $18-21 on pretty much all sizes.”

Carlos Solf, director of procurement with Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Southern Specialties Inc., said he expects lower volumes form Peru this year.

Seven Seas’ Gonzalez said he anticipates a Peruvian asparagus crop at 13% to 15% less than last year.

“Peru was producing too much asparagus for a long time. They’re working on producing asparagus year-round, so they’re not giving time to fields to take a rest, so every year, production is going lower and lower,” he said.