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Cucumbers Market Snapshot* The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on cucumbers:
Florida: 1 1/9 bushel cartons, medium, mostly $10.35-10.85;
small, $6.35-7.35; cartons of 24s, Mexico crossings through Nogales, Ariz.: 1 1/9 bushel cartons, small, $8.95-10.95; medium, mostly $12.95; large, $8.95-10.95; cartons of 36s, mostly $6.95; cartons of film-wrapped, long seedless 12s, mostly $5.95-6; cartons of film-wrapped, long-seedless 16s, $5.95-6.95. * Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Nov.10. Supplies of cucumbers should be ample for Thanksgiving, and a wide range of quality likely will be on the market, grower-shippers say. Long English cucumbers are pretty much a year-round item from the greenhouses of southwest Ontario, Canada, said Joe Spano, director of sales for Kingsville, Ontario-based Mucci Pac Ltd. "The growers have perfected their growing methods and worked out a way to go through three or four crop cycles," he said. But just because the cukes are grown in greenhouses doesn't mean they're not subject to the whims of nature, he emphasized. Growers can control heat and certain other aspects of the environment, "But we always need Mother Nature's natural light," he said. That's why yields, production and sizing typically are not as favorable in winter as they are during the summer. Right now, quality out of Ontario - and Mucci Pak in particular - is outstanding, Spano said. And volume will be good, too, because the company has added some new growers and will about double its acreage this year to nearly 90 acres. "We'll have a lot of cukes," he said. Prices are down a bit compared to last year because of additional Mexican plantings and more cucumbers from foreign suppliers, he said, but markets will improve if Ontario doesn't get much sunlight or if Mexican product suffers from weather problems. Mucci Pak specializes in 12-count large, medium and small cucumbers and also ships a 24-count club pack, triple-wrapped 24s and double-wrapped 24s. Spano considers "burpless" English cucumbers superior to others because they have virtually no seed pockets so they don't cause digestive problems, and they have no wax on their skin. In Florida, Six L's Packing Co. Inc. has been picking cucumbers in the Ruskin area for about two weeks, said Mike Shier, vegetable sales manager. The company has a fall planting of about 80 acres, which will be shipping until the end of November. Extreme heat about three weeks ago affected the front end of the crop, but since then, supplies and quality have been good, he said. However, strong winds this week could result in some quality issues next week. Demand has been flat since the end of summer because of the economic slump, Shier said. Markets have been cheap, but if Georgia supplies are curtailed by rain, and if inclement weather in Florida affects quality, prices could improve, he said. But Mexico is the main factor influencing the Florida deal. Growing cucumbers in the winter in Florida is difficult because of the weather, he said. "Mexico tends to take over the market." Many Florida growers plant cucumbers especially for Thanksgiving. "You'll see the cuke harvest in Florida slow down as Thanksgiving approaches," Shier said. "You'll see demand drop off after the holiday." Good-quality cucumbers have been shipping out of west Mexico for about a month, said Danny Stoller, sales manager at Malena Produce Inc., Nogales, Ariz. Since the cucumbers are grown in shade houses, growers are able to produce 90% super select, which is the preferred size, Stoller said. Prices are average for this time of year, he said, but they may improve when homegrown deals wind down, and shipments from Georgia, California and Baja California start to slow. Volume at Malena should increase by 50,000 boxes this season, Stoller said. The Nogales office of Santa Paula, Calif.-based Calavo Growers Inc. should have good supplies of European cucumbers until mid-December, said JJ Badillo, director of diversified products. "Right now, the quality is fantastic," he said. "We have a nice, dark green-colored cuke, large size and heavy to the 12 counts." Next year, Calavo should have cucumbers year-round, he added. (By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)
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