July 2022
| Item | Country of Origin | Beginning of harvest | End of harvest | Updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby Corn | Thailand | Year round | Year round | Fewer raw materials are available due to farmers favoring other crops and heavy rains hurting the fields. Raw material costs are on the rise. |
| Tuna Albacore | Thailand | Year round | Year round | Catchings are struggling, keeping costing elevated. |
| Tuna Skipjack | Thailand | Year round | Year round | Catchings are robust, driving costs down. Current pricing is as low as we expect it to go. |
| Blended Oils | Varies | Year round | Year round | Timely rains will be needed if heat persists, and average rainfall is expected. Soybeans planted are ahead of the five-year average for the first time this 2022 season coming in at 94% planted. |
| Mushrooms | Holland | Year round | Year round | Crops in western Europe are poor with lower yields. Demand is high across retail and foodservice. Production costs—especially compost, packaging, and energy, have taken big jumps in cost. Higher replacement costs will be the story for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023. |
| Avocado | Mexico | Twice per year | March | October | Raw material is very tight and prices are up 35-45% percent on a per pound basis. Quality of fruit is marginal. Supply may be an issue until October when the next crop comes in. |
| Okra | El Salvador | March | June | Although farming costs are up substantially, we expect no issues with crops and supplies. |
| Quinoa | Peru | May | June | Difficulty in obtaining fertilizer and climate conditions have lessened yields in Peru. Other growing regions outside of the Andes have also suffered adverse climate conditions. This results in a lower global supply, which will place upward pressure on pricing. |
| Mango | Mexico | June | August | Mexico harvest has started and everything appears to be on track for a good crop with good yield and quality. Packers are not absorbing the major cost increases due to labor, packaging, and logistics which may impact pricing. |
| Jalapeno Peppers | Mexico | June | August | The largest jalapeño crop is starting. Growers are optimistic, but some challenges still exist regarding availability of fertilizers and insect control. Production cost per acre has increased substantially—a 20% increase vs 2021. There is limited inventory carryover from 2021, which will place pressure for quick delivery of the new crop production. Everyone is keeping an eye on the weather as it is predicted to be a rainy year. Heavy rains from a storm or hurricane during July or August in Chihuahua or during September in the Yucatan Peninsula will have direct consequences on the jalapeño crop. |
| Arborio/Carnaroli Rice | Italy | July | August | Increases in logistics, packaging materials, and energy costs are causing a significant increase in costs. In addition, suppliers are facing big cost increases in paddy rice, with peaks of +30% and +50% on all varieties. |
| Tomatillos | Mexico | June | August | Pricing for fresh tomatillos is expected to be higher than the ones packed early this year. Weather has delayed the crop and the affected yields are yet to be determined. Packers need to produce good volumes in order to carry inventory until spring of 2023. |
| Capers | Turkey | June | August | The new harvest has started in Morocco, Syria, and Turkey. There was little carryover for medium and large capers creating tight supply. Yields are projected to be down versus 2021, which will cause pressure for cost increases. Demand still remains strong. |
| Artichokes | Peru | July | October | Peru will begin harvest in July with much demand for their product after a down year in 2021. Key input costs are way up, including fertilizer, packaging, seedling costs, and ascorbic acid. Mother Nature appears to be providing good weather for solid crop yields. |
| Edamame/Mukimame | China | July | November | Though there are reports of adverse weather conditions reducing yields, plantings are higher than usual. We do not expect any shortages nor disurptions. |
| Caramelized Onions | Spain | September | February | There is a new crop of onions beginning in late September. There is, however, increased demand for onions in Europe due to higher demand for onion rings. Sunflower oil supply continues to be a larger issue due to the continuing Ukraine- Russia War. This will the major driver in costing going upwards. |
| Green Olives | Spain | October | December | High heat combined with limited rain is not a good recipe. Sizing of olives will be the most affected due to the lack of rain. There is hope for more rain in September to help increase the yields prior to harvesting. Final cost increases have not been determined but they are inevitable due to labor, energy, and packaging. |
| Olive Oil | Spain | November | March | Limited rain in May paired with high heat during critical flowering time has put the 2022 harvest projections low to medium. Producers are expecting higher prices because of projected low crop yields and small carryover from 2021 crop. There is a lack of fruity extra virgin olive oil available with strong demand for refined oils due to shortages on sunflower oil. Pomace remains at historically high costs. We do not expect cost relief for the remainder of 2022. |
| Kalamata Olives | Greece | January | March | The harvest concluded in late Q2 was smaller in tonnage than average, causing upward pressure on base cost. Finished goods were further impacted by increases on inputs throughout the production cycle—raw materials, transportation, brine ingredients, packaging, labor, etc. Despite the increases, demand continues to rise. Expect spot quotes later this year to be even higher. Despite these challenges, kalamata prices have been near decade lows since the fall of 2020 with current market prices more than 15% lower than 2 years ago. |
Logistics Update
Global Freight costs into the west coast fell more than 30% in May, as east coast prices fell 20%. Both remain more than 35% higher than a year ago, but have returned to levels not seen since last summer. Transit times have steadily fallen by 12% since the start of 2022.
Climbing oil prices translate directly to higher diesel prices. U.S. diesel prices are up significantly from last year and are likely to go higher as sanctions are mounted against Russia, the third largest oil producer in the world.
In the US, warehouse space remains scarce and renewed rail backlogs are becoming a growing problem. There are fears that a new surge of containers once Shanghai reopens could once again lead to packed container yards.