The market is very choppy up to the beginning or second week of June. This is the way Mark Vaughan of Fresh Avenue predicts the market for lettuce is expected to look in the coming weeks. “It’s likely remain a volatile market, with significant fluctuations in the supply. The supply may increase over the course of a few days but then they will drop off,” he says.

There are many causes for this inconsistent supply, starting in Yuma, Arizona. “The strategy was to allow growers and shippers to remain in the desert a bit longer than they’d like to. But, we experienced plenty of hot temperatures over the last five days and that strategy won’t work as the lettuce isn’t able to handle the temperatures,” says Vaughan.

And then there’s Salinas, California, a region which was in the back of between two and four weeks due to the cold and rainy conditions early during the season. “You could not get in the fields and grow like you’d like to,” he says. In addition, the recent flooding that occurred four weeks ago and some lettuce was submerged in the same area. “The floods didn’t destroy an enormous amount of lettuce, however it took out some.”

Demand for lettuce is high

In addition, it is a time of increasing demand for lettuce, especially due to the many festivals in May and April during the time from Easter to Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. “This is a very high-vegetable consumption season. The months of April and May are the two most demanded months in general,” he says. “So the combination of all these variables could create a turbulent market, which will also be oversupplied. There’s a chance that stocks improve during one week, and in the following week, they drop off totally. We’re looking from early June.”

When the temperature rises it could alter circumstances. This could not close any gaps or even catch up, however it may ease shortages a little. “You are cutting your early lettuce, and you will not get more yields, and cost is higher, however If the market and demand is there, you could cut it the way normal. If Mother Nature gives us a few days of pleasant temperatures, things could be moving,” he says.

This means that prices can be on the high end until the beginning or second week in June. “As the months progress into in May or early June, you will start getting some regional products like New Jersey in the northeast and New Jersey in the northeast, arrive on the market that will in breaking the back of this too,” says Vaughan.

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Mark Vaughan

Fresh Avenue

Tel: + 1-888-FRESH40

mark.vaughan@freshavenue.com

www.freshavenue.com