BAKERSFIELD, CA - Roasted, glazed, sauteed, or raw, carrots are undeniably part of the Thanksgiving spread and beyond. Grimmway Farms’ Mike Anspach and Western Veg-Pro’s Dennis Slater took the time to share how the category is looking from multiple sides of the market.
“We’re finishing up our summer crop and heading to Bakersfield, California, for fall harvest. The crop looks beautiful with nice quality and we’ll have ample supply through the holiday season,” Grimmway’s Vice President of Sales tells me, adding that the season brings strong demand for carrots. “While baby carrots account for the most volume sales, we anticipate high demand for value-added items like shredded carrots and carrot chips, coins and sticks. We also expect strong demand for all of our organic carrot items, especially rainbow carrot products which include our ColorShred® carrots and rainbow cello, bunch, and baby carrots.”
Seeing excellent demand, good supply, and great quality for carrots overall as we head into the big eating holidays, Mike advises that secondary displays are key this season and provide great space to highlight rainbow carrots and other products newer to the market.
“We recommend promoting baby carrots as shoppers begin to prep for holiday cooking and we encourage retailers to plan promotions around value-added items as well, perhaps bundling 2 to 3 items to mix and match for additional discounts,” he advises the buy-side.
For jumbo carrots, Dennis said availability is out of Bakersfield, Ontario, Canada, and Mexico, crossing through McAllen, Texas.
“The market is strengthening in anticipation of good holiday demand,” he confirms. “The Canadians are now putting much of their carrot volume in storage and are trying to raise their market by a couple dollars per 50’s. Meanwhile, Mexican jumbos are arriving regularly in McAllen with variable quality, and we are seeing good quality Mexican jumbo prices strengthening.”
With Thanksgiving fast-approaching, and December holidays right behind it, AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you checked in on fresh produce.
