California’s Salinas Valley vegetable shippers were shipping good volumes by late April an this trend continues with favorable weather. Meanwhile, truck shortages and record rates persist.
Shippers are still a bit skeptical about what lies ahead for the the second half of the season due to uncertainties relating to the pandemic.
Pacific International Marketing of Salinas reports a cooler than normal spring, but supplies have not been interrupted.
Compared with the start of the COVID -19pandemic, Coastline Family Farms Inc. of Salinas had not problem planting for the first half of the Salinas season. Now it is evaluating what it wants to do for the second half of the season.
Beyond acreage reserved for contract sales, Coastline also has a little extra acreage for open market and for whole distribution. Still, some growers are being cautious. The company lost significant acreage last March due to the the shutdown of the foodservice business.
Pacific International is expecting foodservice shipments to gradually return and be back in full force by the end of the year.
Coastline notes cauliflower contracts have been expanded this year, and foodservice demand in general is climbing back.
Some foodservice customers also are taking more mixed loads rather than straight loads, limiting their buying while demand improves.
While dozens of different vegetables shipments are coming out of the Salinas Valley, lettuce easily leads in volume (with mostly Iceberg and romane) averaging about 1,900 truck loads per week, followed by broccoli with around 270 truck load weekly.
Truck rates remain on record tracks!
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing $11,000-plus to New York City.