Vegetable transition causing major gaps theproducenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theproducenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On Monday, Oct. 10, veteran vegetables salesman Denny Donovan was unabashed in his prediction for the following day: “I think we will see a record breaker on carton lettuce in tomorrow’s Market News (USDA’s daily Market News report). Today, I heard quotes of $55 (per carton) to near $70, but there’s nothing around.”
Donovan, who is sales manager for Fresh Kist Produce in Guadalupe, CA, said the FOB price on many of the core veg items “are a little bit crazy.”
The iceberg lettuce market was at $45-50 per carton on March 7, with many grower-shippers suggesting that the market will remain strong through the end of the winter vegetable deal in early April.
“We saw a meteoric rise in prices last week and there was no relief today,” said Mark McBride, veteran salesman at Coastline Family Farms, which is headquartered in Salinas, CA. “Today, (March 7) we are in the high $40s to low $50s, with some shippers quoting one price for any carton of iceberg they have — wrapped or naked, 24s or 30s. We are in pretty rare air.”