Retailers holding spinach prices down

Spinach volume has been on a steady rise the past half-decade, and it continues this summer.

F.O.B. prices are seeing a seasonal rise, which has occurred the past few years, but retail prices have been lower in July and August than the past few years.

VOLUME TOTAL, SPINACH CONVENTIONAL FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 31TH

A comparison of 2020 volume with 2019 and 2018, for the period between July and August 30, 2020, shows increases of 4.1 percent and 13.8 percent respectively.

Demand for this commodity is steadily increasing as evidenced by seven years of consecutive of growth, said Paola Ochoa, Program Manager for Agtools Inc. BB #:355102

Blue Book has teamed with Agtools Inc., the data analytic service for the produce industry, to look at a handful of crops and how they’re adjusting in the market during the pandemic.

F.O.B. PRICE IN CENTRAL COAST CALIFORNIA SPINACH CONVENTIONAL FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 31TH

When analyzing the F.O.B price of spinach in Central Coast in California we can see a price very similar to previous years with very stable prices this year and a price increase from the second half of August.

NEW YORK TERMINAL PRICE FOR CONVENTIONAL SPINACH FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 31TH

The F.O.B. price in the New York market has also been very stable this year unlike in 2018 where it was more volatile, Ochoa said. If we compare the price this year with that of 2019, we can see very similar prices and behavior.

CHICAGO TERMINAL PRICE FOR CONVENTIONAL SPINACH FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 31TH

When analyzing the market price in Chicago we can see more volatile prices than in New York, Ochoa said. When compared with previous years we can also observe a higher price than in 2019 during most of this period of time, but much lower than the price reached during the first 20 days of the month of August 2018.

NATIONAL RETAIL PRICE FOR CONVENTIONAL SPINACH FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 30TH

The national retail price of spinach this year has been much lower than last year, and only for two weeks this year has it exceeded the price of 2018, Ochoa said. This price drop has not affected the volumes nor the F.O.B. prices or the terminal market price.

2020 YTD Spinach
Together, Arizona, Mexico and California Central account for 85.8 percent of the U.S. production of spinach with Arizona the largest producer with 36.4 percent of total U.S. volume. These three supplying regions are responsible for almost the entire U.S. volume.

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