Right now, it's the most important time for green asparagus production in Mexico. "We grow green asparagus in the state of Sonora and peak time is from January through April," says Denys Sam, Sales Director with Altar Produce. Fortunately, the season in Caborca, Sonora has been much better than the previous one with an increase in production of nearly 30 percent. "The weather conditions were favorable as we didn't experience many cold fronts, nor any extremely high temperatures. This really helped with both volume and quality of harvested product," Sam added.
Contracted demand
Favorable growing conditions were much needed because the last three months of 2023 as well as January 2024 were very complex and trialing. "The challenges were mainly related to shortage of supply caused by weather issues, which resulted in very high prices." In fact, this describes the past few years of green asparagus. Supply issues in different production zones worldwide affected overall demand. "Consumers couldn't count on seeing asparagus on the shelves and gradually lost interest. High prices also impacted demand in a negative way." Good availability is needed for asparagus to remain relevant and end up on consumers' tables.
Prices recovering
Fortunately, the supply situation in Caborca changed in a positive way in February. However, contracted demand resulted in a rapid collapse in prices for the season. "From February onwards, the strong harvest and contraction in demand, resulted in a rapid fall of prices," Sam said. However, due to a combination of a strong Easter pull and an anticipated production decrease towards the latter part of the season, prices are expected to increase significantly.
Early Easter is beneficial
On a positive note, the uptick in production allowed for very good promotions at retailers across the U.S. as well as outside the country. "We were able to push volume in our main markets worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. It resulted in asparagus returning to shelves at competitive prices, significantly stimulating demand." It also had a positive impact on the Easter pull. The promotions and good product availability during the months of February and March created strong demand leading up to Easter. As a result, the Easter pull was much better than expected.
"Easter is an important holiday because there is always more demand than usual and an early Easter like this year, is very beneficial for us," commented Sam. If Easter is celebrated at the end of March like this year, it aligns much better with the production window of asparagus. "There is still plenty of product available, allowing us to offer better promotions. If Easter, however, is celebrated in the second week of April, it is very close to the end of the season when supplies tighten up and room for promotions becomes limited."
"Sustained interest and an increase in sales allowed for price levels to improve and I am confident this will create a positive precedent for demand for the remainder of 2024," concluded Sam.
For more information:
Denys Sam
Altar Produce
Tel: +1 (760) 890-8132
Email: dsam@altarproduce.com
www.altarproduce.com