COACHELLA, CA - California’s Central Valley is reportedly shifting to a cooler, more temperate climate, to which the peppers are responding gratefully.
Mike Aiton, Marketing Director for Prime Time Produce, took the time to tell us that the company has a lot of volume headed its way, stating that the time to promote peppers is fast-approaching.
“Production for Prime Time has now switched to the cooler, more temperate climate on the Central Coast of California and a tsunami of peppers is heading our way,” Mike tells me. “Thankfully, the growing conditions have been ideal, for a change, and the pepper plants have responded. They are now carrying a big set of high quality peppers.”
Mike explained that the weather has been more of a challenge than an aid in general for most row crops across the country, California included. “Extremely high temperatures and periods of heavy rain have disrupted supplies for the past months, and markets have reacted accordingly,” he said, adding that California weather has induced supply peaks for a time and then followed up with a short period of limited volume.
Now, however, it looks like peppers are bouncing back.
“We are looking at peak supplies of red, yellow, green, and mini sweet peppers from about August 20th until the first of October,” Jeff Taylor, Managing Member of Prime Time, said. “This is an excellent time to write those ads and take advantage of the seasonally low prices we are now offering.”
Additionally, as we previously reported, the company is the exclusive marketing agent for Pacific Gold Farms, growing throughout Southern California. Available to load in Fullerton, Pacific Gold will be coming in around the same time and add even more volume to the category.
With expectations for peak production to meet the heavy pepper demand that is coming from around the country, Prime Time is going to be putting its new Somis, California, packing facility to use over the next couple of months.
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