After a surge of lettuce in California made for a low lettuce market, prices have been improving as supplies have tightened. The market should keep improving through the week and into the beginning of next month.
“Up until a few days ago, the market for lettuce was kind of flat,” said Mark McBride of Coastline Family Farms. “The Salinas deal came in a week or two early, and that lettuce piled on to the volume from the late desert deal. It kind of made for a train wreck with lots of excess volume.” He added that prices got low enough that growers simply left some of the lettuce in the field rather than harvest it.
But the market, as it often does, is now heading in the opposite direction. Prices are improving, and they're set to continue to do so through the end of the week. On April 28, prices for a carton of iceberg lettuce 24s from Salinas and Watsonville were between $14.00 and $19.45, and prices for a carton from Santa Maria were between $13.00 and $15.00.
“Any time you have a period of excess, there's going to be a light spot down the line: the market contracts and expands,” explained McBride. “The market expanded for a few weeks, and now it's in the process of contracting. There's already been an increase in the market the last few days, and I expect the market to show additional strength through next week.”
