Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503310005
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY DAVIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Supermarket shoppers are discovering this week that iceberg lettuce prices are anything but frozen.
A shortage caused by crop-ravaging floods in California, combined with a seasonal shift in growing regions, is driving up wholesale and retail prices, at least through the end of the summer.
Supermarket shoppers are seeing steeply rising prices. But at least for now, restaurateurs say they'll eat the difference rather than pass it on to patrons. Greenhouses, meanwhile, are seeing a run on lettuce plants as people rush to plant their own.
At Food Lion supermarkets in the Roanoke region, iceberg lettuce, which sold for 99 cents a head last week, had risen to $1.59 on Monday and $1.79 by Wednesday, said spokeswoman Chris Ahearn. That's an 81 percent increase. Prices should drop in about two weeks, but for now, the market is feeling the shortage, Ahearn said.
At Roanoke Valley Kroger stores, the price of iceberg jumped from 99 cents a head to $1.49 late last week, and regional spokesman Archie Fralin predicted iceberg supplies would be erratic through the end of summer. But he could not say if prices would continue to increase.
At the wholesale level, prices have more than doubled over the last two weeks. Early in March, Roanoke Fruit & Produce Co. was paying $15 for a box of 24 heads; a box now costs $33, an increase of 120 percent, said sales manager Fred Najjum.
Najjum laid most of the blame on a regular, beginning-of-spring lag in supply. He said that at about this time every year, the iceberg lettuce production normally shifts from California to Florida, resulting in a temporary lag in supply and a price increase.
"The actual flood effects haven't been felt yet," he said.
Restaurateurs also are feeling the crunch. But some operators seem unwilling to change the menu while the lettuce market fluctuates.
"People are not going to stop eating tossed salad. We don't raise prices tomorrow because of floods that happened yesterday," Roanoker Restaurant owner E.C. Warren said.
Greg Winslow, owner of B&G Salad Works in downtown Roanoke, said his lettuce costs have tripled.
"The crop is less abundant. I guess it's a good time to gouge people," he said.
However, Winslow also said his customers won't see price increases on his menu.
"It's just a cost to me. You just have to suck it up," he said. The menu prices are "not something I can change every day. It's just something you have to deal with."
The shortage even has affected area nurseries.
Tom Monroe, owner of Obenchain's Greenhouses, said there's been a run on iceberg lettuce plants. His supply sold out in the first two weeks of March, as warm weather and stiff prices sent people out into their gardens to plant their own. Monroe said his supply may not be replenished until June.
"Those crops might be delayed because the fields aren't dry yet. So, it might be as long as 12 weeks before we get a new crop in," he said.
Monroe said his price for head lettuce plants will stay at $3.70 per dozen.
The flooding in January and early March has wiped out much of the California iceberg crop and has left growing regions unsuitable for planting. Salinas Valley farmers were hardest hit, but there also was major damage to San Diego and Ventura counties. The most recent floods could surpass the $27 million in damage caused by the January floods.
Anthony Thomas, a buyer with Sandler Foods in Virginia Beach, said the recent price fluctuations will last longer than those in 1993 after the floods in Yuma, Ariz.
"That was a situation that was fairly temporary. It was the end of the desert-growing season, and northern growing areas were into production shortly thereafter," he said.
"Now, the major problem areas are northern growing areas, and that will prolong this situation. It will last a lot longer than two years ago."
by CNB