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While excellent promotional opportunities currently exist for fresh organic asparagus, as Mexico’s production declines industry observers believe higher prices and tighter supplies are on the horizon.
The asparagus market for both organic and conventional asparagus has been in a supply exceeds demand situation in recent weeks. Adriana Fortune of Gourmet Trading Company in Los Angeles told OPN Connect the overall market was in the $18 to $20 range, when it is typically about $10 per carton higher at this time of year.
“The volume has been very good but we think it will soon start to decline,” she said, adding that growers in Mexico have been pushing the crop a bit harder as the season winds down.
Gourmet Trading will soon be relying on sourcing from Peru, Washington State and another Mexican region, Fortune said. The organic supplies from those regions is expected to be down a bit creating a fairly strong market by the end of April or early May. Gourmet does have an organic asparagus program in Washington with steady production expected by mid-April.
Doug Classen of The Nunes Company in Salinas, CA, noted his firm has a solid organic and conventional deal in the lower half of the Salinas Valley. The firm began harvest in that region in February and expects to continue through June.
“The market has been depressed but we are expecting a stronger markets for both conventional and organic crops moving forward,” Classen said.
He noted that while conventional asparagus is typically sold in 28 pound units, the vast majority of the firm’s organic sales are in 11-pound cartons. While the market hasn’t been strong, Classen said the product is top notch with no quality issues.
Don Hessel, asparagus program general manager for Progressive Produce Corporation, Los Angeles, agreed that it has been a challenging deal and also expects a market upturn in the coming weeks. He said the Mexican deal from Caborca is winding down, but is lasting a little bit longer than usual. Hessel said Progressive has been selling organic asparagus, but their supply is about to run out, noting that Peru is not a big supplier of organic asparagus because of its treatment protocols.
Gary Larsen, an asparagus grower and chairman of the Washington Asparagus Commission, said more and more growers in that region are looking at the organic option as a way to increase their per acre return. He noted that Washington has a shrinking marketing window as Mexico pushes it on the front end and Peru squeezes on the back end. He said most growers will begin harvest in mid-April and hopes production will continue until June 15th.
Larsen said about 100 acres in Washington have transitioned to organic production and will be in production this year, with another couple of hundred acres currently transitioning.
“Over the next three years, we should have 300 organic acres in production,” he said, “which would represent about 7 percent of the total acreage.” Larsen noted that Washington has the highest-yielding acres in the industry, getting as much as double the production of some other areas. He said the organic option could help maximize returns.
