Growing awareness of organic produce among consumers has retailers pushing for more organic programs. That, in turn, has signaled to some growers that additional acreage is needed to meet growing interest. But, at least for organic citrus, more acreage and bigger volumes of fruit have increased competition in the organic sector as growers and retailers try to find the right balance between supply and demand.
“We're having a good year with citrus, but there has been some downward pressure on the marketplace from new acreage that's coming into production,” said Craig Morris with Homegrown Organic Farms, a leading supplier of organic citrus based in California's Central Valley. “We're feeling that competition on the dollar side, so returns to growers will be less this season. That's the case especially with lemons, navel oranges and mandarins.”
Morris points to growing pains in the organic market as a reason for lower prices. Organic produce has a lot of buzz surrounding it, and virtually all retailers want to establish an organic program. Growers, likewise, are eager to meet the interest generated by consumers and retailers with additional acreage. But there's danger in adding too much too quickly.
“The message everyone's hearing with organics is 'we want more,'” said Morris. “and that's putting pressure on people to get into the marketplace. But going organic requires a thorough evaluation because the production costs are higher and yields are lower than conventional produce, and those are even bigger factors with organic citrus.”
Homegrown Organic has been an organic operation since its inception, so it has carefully increased its production to match what the market can absorb. Morris has noticed a bit more product than what's demanded, though the market could get better for the last part of the season.
“I think we'll get a natural bump in pricing from now until May,” said Morris. “Prices are about 20 percent off from normal, so I think we'll end the season with what would be normal pricing for the middle of the season.”
