The 2024 local growing season is over in Connecticut, except for a few items like winter squashes, and distributors are beginning to look to other regions to fill their customers’ needs for the coming fall and winter seasons, said Bill Jarjura, owner of JP Jarjura & Sons Co., Waterbury, Conn.
The summer season was a fruitful one, especially for corn, he said.
By mid-October, Jarjura was beginning to transition to southern growing areas, but some items were pricey and in short supply because of the impact of Hurricane Helene.
For example, beans that typically sold for $24 per crate were selling for $40 to $45, he said. Prices also were higher on squash, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and pickles.
Jarjura said the situation could be worse if the threatened strike by longshore workers had taken place.
He said he expected sales at his company, which serves primarily Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, to be similar to last year.
At Cedro Banana Distributors, New Haven, Conn., company owner and Vice President Billy Mascari said banana pricing and supplies should stay consistent, but the same can’t be said for some other tropical items.
“We anticipate [banana] supplies being normal through the end of the year,” he said.
But supplies of mangoes from Brazil and Ecuador are tight, and prices have skyrocketed.
“Mango pricing is at an all-time high,” Mascari said in mid-October. “It’s very hard to get large sizes right now.”
He expected conditions to improve as the season progresses, however.
Supplies of green plantains from Ecuador should be steady through the end of year, with no major shortages or price increases expected. But Mascari said buyers should remain leery.
“Weather can change this business over a weekend,” he said.
Sales of tropicals will pick up for the holidays, especially in Spanish communities, he said. And the company has a blueberry import deal from Argentina from September through November, when volume out of Peru is light.
Cedro monitors markets and weather patterns worldwide and sources from suppliers in several growing areas to ensure that it meets its customers’ needs, Mascari said.
“If we’re just sourcing from one supplier, that’s where it gets dangerous,” he said.
On the foodservice side, City Line Food Distributors Inc., West Haven, Conn., continues to stock a wide range of items from several growing areas primarily for high-end eateries, said CEO Robert Berkowitz.
“We stock every item in produce for foodservice,” he said.
The company serves yacht clubs and similar establishments in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and parts of New York.
Hardy vegetables, like sweetpotatoes, onions, potatoes and mushrooms, are some of the popular items at this time of year, Berkowitz said. Sales of salad ingredients generally slow as the weather cools.
City Line has trucks arriving from California and southern growing areas two or three times a week and from wherever potatoes and onions are available, he said.
“We’re sourcing from all over,” he said.
There can always be weather or other issues that affect fruits and vegetables, but City Line doesn’t let those problems affect the quality of its product, Berkowitz said.
“We’re very selective,” he said. “We screen the product very carefully.”
His high-end clientele won’t accept substandard product, he said.
Calabaza squash is a top-selling ingredient used to make pasteles, a holiday tradition among Hispanic consumers similar to tamales, says Billy Mascari, an owner and vice president at Cedro Banana Distributors, New Haven, Conn. Sales of tropical items pick up during the holidays, especially in Spanish communities, he says.
(Photo courtesy of Cedro Banana Distributors)
(Photo courtesy of Cedro Banana Distributors)
by Tom Burfield, Nov 04, 2024