SALINAS, CA - If you’ve been sipping the celery Kool-Aid with the rest of us, then you know the celery category is one of the hottest around these days. In fact, despite the veg's iconic green coloring, Ocean Mist Farms’ John Chobanian, Commodity Account Manager, confirmed that the celery market is red-hot, with no signs of cooling off anytime soon.
“The impact of National Celery Month in March, which inspired the added attention to celery juicing, has created this red-hot market of the past few months. We can only hope that juicers keep juicing, and consumers keep enjoying this wonderful commodity,” John told me. “I would also describe the market as very unsettled, however, since we’re coming off of the previous highs. In general, the celery market has been good since Thanksgiving and with sustained unprecedented levels.”
While the market has been good, John also revealed that there was a slight dip recently, which he is anticipating will bounce back as early as this week as celery prices stabilize for both retail and foodservice, and demand returns to healthy levels.
In addition, warm weather reduced weights slightly, but again John noted that it would not affect Ocean Mist Farms’ quality in the long term.
“We are currently in our summer plantings. Generally, we lighten up over the summer months due to the competition in home-grown markets,” John explained. “So far, quality has been exceptional, with no change expected for the foreseeable future and our volume is steady compared to last year. We always attempt to match volume with demand from regular business and contracts.”
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