Blog

The weather is constantly changing in unpredictable ways, and the recent floods in Peru are a reminder of the drastic impact that these changes can have.

Peru has three distinct climatic zones: the tropical rainforest, the Andean Highlands, and the desert coast. Currently it is the rainy season for the highlands and the humid rainforest, so rain is expected in these regions. The coast seldom sees any rain at all – hence why it is as a desert coast. However, this arid region makes for great growing conditions for organic bananas and mangos among many other crops that are grown in Northern Peru.

Visiting BOS just two weeks ago, Randy and I were both amazed that it was even sprinkling for a few minutes when we arrived to Piura. I thought to myself, “that’s weird – it doesn’t rain here.”

However, La Niña definitely has a different opinion, and this past week the weather phenomenon brought extremely heavy rains to Peru’s desert coast and highlands that caused severe flooding affecting 80% of the country. Northern regions of Peru that normally receive, on average, 6-10 cm of rain a year, have seen up to 150 cm of precipitation in just a few days. Near Motupe (where one mango coop we work with - SOMFRUTAS is located), rain was recorded at 28 litres per square metre!

Days of non-stop rain caused over 60 rivers to overflow, wiped out highways, and collapsed bridges all over the country. Although heavy rains hit all of Peru, the impact was felt the greatest in the Northern regions because they aren’t prepared to handle rain of this magnitude. With the extreme rising levels of the rivers, several regions had to open their dams.

Big problems in banana land this morning.  For the first time since we began importing bananas, many growers in Northern Peru have invoked “force majeure” clauses to their supply contracts and declared emergencies.  Rainfall started 10 days ago, and they have now received nearly 30 times as much rain as they receive annually.  Plantations are under-water, many plants have fallen over with their roots being under-mined, and packing areas are impassable. 

Don’t worry – we have lots of fruit on the water and don’t expect supply problems for about a month, and we are scrambling for alternatives, but at this point we can only hope that the growers can recover quickly so their incomes aren’t affected.  This was an unprecedented 50 year storm, which we hope is the only one.  Warmer South Pacific ocean temperatures are likely to blame, with thunderstorms drenching all of Peru and northern Chile.  Some areas in northern Chile received 150 cm of rain yesterday in areas that have not had recorded precipitation for a decade.  Rain was heavier in central Peru, in Chiclayo and Lambayeque, where mango and rice crops have been destroyed.                          

The apple story is changing quickly with us, with growers cleaning up the last of a few varieties while at the same time we are having to move to Washington where there was a much bigger harvest of  late varieties, where our harvest was light and late.  Our F.T. avocado and grapefruit shipments are expected to arrive on Friday – sorry for the unexpected delay. 

We will also have limes back in stock from Javier Moreno for next week. 

Fair Trade Avo’s will be back on Wednesday’s list – the truck is on its way!  Fair Trade blues back in stock this weekend – we should have a good supply for some time, hopefully no more container delays. 

Mango’s galore – stunning Kent’s – full sizing – and a reasonable supply of Honeyblush left.  You just can’t beat Peruvian mangos for quality and flavour – and importing directly to Vancouver means we can avoid the “thermal” bath required for the U.S. market. 

We may have gone a little crazy on the citrus selection this week, with over 40 different oranges and tangerines.  This is a hint – sales are over-the-top on oranges, and a good time to list a few varieties so your customers can savour some of the exotics that are only available for a few weeks. 

Warmer temperatures are finally bringing on the Oxnard and Santa Maria strawberry crops – expect a falling market.  Prices also drop after everyone’s done their Valentine’s Day shopping it seems (sort of like our gas prices on long weekends!). 

The green bean glut of the last few weeks ended rather abruptly, with prices up and now limited supply.  Pricing on greens is fairly stable, while broc and cauliflower continue at prices that aren’t helpful for growers, but they have to do what they have to do. 

Other Mexican product – especially zucchini and all tomatoes continue to be over-supplied, with 25% staying in the national markets.  Too many peppers in the market as well, with excellent price points – do all colours and make a rainbow?  Local HH cukes will start sometime next week, but volumes will be very light, but it’s nice to see OriginO back in production again!

Did you know 10% of all the avocados sold in the U.S. are next week – followed closely by the first week of May (Cinco de Mayo)?  How much guacamole can people possibly eat while watching the Super Bowl? There is some carry-over here as well, so you may want to think about stocking up, and early in the week so you have good supply of ready-to-eat product on the shelf. 

We’re in our annual transition on Fairtrade grapefruit from Red Ruby to Star Ruby which arrive late next week.  The Red’s are to die for – and we have an excellent price on 32 counts – beautiful big fruit, priced the same per each as 48’s. 

We’d like to move the Edward mango’s out before Kent’s arrive in 10 days.  Substantial price reductions are in effect.  Kent’s will be more expensive when they arrive.  The pricing continues to rise in Peru as the South American domestic markets are gobbling up in this sellers market. With such limited volumes, mangos are currently shipping at 27% comparing year over year. 

Several growers are sending their blood oranges directly to juice – don’t quite know what happened, but rain seems to have affected quality, so limited supply and high prices will be the rule for now. 

Kate Brooks' D’Anjou pears continue to roar out – the fruit is perfect.

California straws are very tight, but new fields start coming on in the next 10 days. 

Wish we had good news on the vegetable front - supply continues to be limited except when we have production in two areas (Imperial and Salinias).  Those include broccoli, cauli, celery and lettuce.  We just got some pics from new fields along the Mexican border and we should see some relief when they come on with kale, chards, radish, green onion and collards in the next 2 – 3 weeks. 

Another cold air mass has come and gone, with overnight temperatures warming up.