Volumes are looking tight right now on domestic cauliflower and broccoli. “There’s little to no volume on cauliflower and broccoli right now and it’s all weather-related,” says Kenny Pendergrass of Chattanooga, Tn-based Dixie Produce Inc. “It’s been coming on for the last four to six weeks—it’s not just the rain but it’s all weather-related.”
Compared to this time last year, Pendergrass notes that volume has dropped by as much as 75 per cent.
“Yet, I think the demand for broccoli and cauliflower is the same,” says Pendergrass. “Though, normally you do get some reduction in demand when the prices hit what they have in retail. I think we’re already seeing a bit of a slack in demand.”
Prices moving around
In turn, this has meant that pricing on both commodities have been seriously fluctuating. “Prices are really all over the board. The FOBs (freight on board) for cauliflower has probably been $40-$60,” he says.
Looking ahead, Pendergrass predicts more of the same. “If it continues to rain which it has this week, we’ll continue to see the same pattern,” he says, adding he’s not seen any adverse effects via the weather on the product that is produced.
The weather effects follow a bit of a challenging time for labour with these two commodities. “They normally have labor issues when they make the transition from south out of the desert into north—the labor issues last until everybody gets up there,” he says. “So we had that coupled with what we were going through on the market situation itself with the weather. Now that most of the labor force has made it up there, it’s in pretty good shape.”
