Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060182
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PRICE OF LETTUCE SHOOTING UP
These days it helps to think of lettuce as a companion to tomatoes, said Harris Teeter clerk Gayle Caldwell. That way the price of the salad green might be more palatable.Iceberg lettuce was $1.49 a head Friday at supermarket chain's Towers Shopping Center store where Caldwell works. A week ago, it sold for $1.29.
However, tomatoes were 89 cents a pound, down from more than $1 a couple weeks ago.
Friday, iceberg at wholesale was $22.50 for a box of 24 heads; two weeks ago, it was $10 to $12.
Lettuce prices are jumping around because of flooding in the Yuma, Ariz., area where heavy rains have swelled the Gila River, overflowing it onto thousands of lettuce-growing acres.
Roanoke produce wholesaler Joe Najjum said the prices are dropping, though.
"Anything you write about lettuce today will be out-of-date tomorrow," said Najjum, president of Roanoke Fruit & Produce Co.
Prices can be expected to fluctuate for the next two months, he said, because the next big lettuce crop is five to six weeks from harvest, in the Bakersfield, Calif., area.
Some 214,200 acres of land are devoted to lettuce growing, with Yuma County producing about two-thirds of the nation's winter iceberg lettuce. Next largest growing states are California and Florida.
This time of year, Americans consume about 6.7 million heads of iceberg lettuce a day. In summer, consumption is close to 9 million heads daily. Head lettuce production in 1992 was 3.3 billion pounds.
Suggesting that shoppers substitute other lettuce varieties for iceberg, like red or green leaf or romaine, isn't a big help now.
The price of those varieties is only about 20 cents a head lower.
"If iceberg goes up, the rest go with it," said Najjum.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.