Demand is exceeding supply on field bell peppers following a challenging season in Georgia. "Georgia had a terrible deal. There may be some farmers in Georgia who don't plant next year. It's very possible," says Neil Mazal of East Coast Farms & Vegetables.
After all, Georgia saw hot, wet weather during its growing season, which is not ideal for dry vegetable production. "Dry vegetables don't like to get rained on and then in 95-degree weather as well," says Mazal. "So there's disease in the field, and the plants are stressed. That means they stop fruiting, or if they fruit, they fruit in off sizes or shrivel."
There are also concerns over this week's North American heat wave and what that means for pepper production in the state. "The fruit that's ready to pick right now probably didn't get impacted too badly. It's the stuff that's coming after it that may not produce or produce a product that's small or deformed or has soft walls and will probably have to be sent to processors," says Mazal.
Concerns about labor
While production is also underway in California on field bell peppers, labor concerns are also being reported–namely, workers worried about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids happening in their place of work. "I've got a vendor in California who can't pick his crop, and so they're mowing it. People are not coming into work for fear of getting taken in, and so labor is short," says Mazal.
As for demand, while it is outpacing supply, it's still softer in part due to general concerns from consumers on everything from the economy to tariffs or potential wars. "So they're cutting back on eating out or when they go to the supermarket, they may opt for bagged salad rather than a $2.99 red pepper," he says, also adding that consumers are also cooking less overall, which has them purchasing less bulk vegetables.
As growers and shippers contend with that demand pattern, the high price of growing inputs also continues to challenge dry vegetable growers. "Freight rates are up everywhere because the costs for transportation people are elevated for repairs, etc.," says Mazal.
Local deals coming
Looking ahead, other more local field bell pepper production will come online via South Carolina and Arkansas, adding to the California supply. Georgia does have supply available too, though the quality is only fair. "There's a lot of suntan (mixed color) pepper, which is driven by heat and the loss of canopy. When it's hot out, the plant sheds the leaves on top, and then the sun beats down on the pepper, which pushes the ripeness and color," says Mazal.
After that, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, and Delaware are also a few weeks out.
While Michigan and Ohio will have fairly good production and New Jersey decent production, regions such as these largely feed the local supply. Then, if they're able to, they ship further out to contribute to the national supply. New York, and by the middle of July, Canada will also be shipping field bell peppers, though it is shipping greenhouse bell peppers right now.
As for other imports, Mexico has largely finished up, and the Netherlands is shipping.
Generally, pricing is stronger due to the short supply. Red pepper FOBs are in the high teens to low $20s; green peppers are mid to high teens; Netherlands is in the mid-teens delivered, though customs clearing and tariffs need to be added to that; Canada greenhouse production is in the high teens.
For more information:
Neil Mazal
East Coast Farms & Vegetables
Tel.: +1 (561) 286-0286
[email protected]
https://www.eastcoastfarms.us/