US (CA): Radicchio welcomes strong demand

“Supply is matched with demand right now. Even though we had a wet, cool spring, it didn’t affect radicchio plantings here in California,” says Marc Marchini of J Marchini Farms in Le Grand, Ca. “So we’re not over, but not under, just perfect and it looks to stay that way.”

The volume of lettuce from the region does look to be greater than last year at this time. “Last year there was a real shortage because of the wet weather that we had. The really wet, late rains just accumulated and delayed plantings throughout the spring,” he says. “Right now there’s great quality radicchio but last year at this time there wasn’t such great quality until July.”

For radicchio, California has the market virtually to itself though Guatemala does come in and out throughout the year though predominantly supplying the east coast. “We just finished up our spring crop in the Central Valley. We just started with Watsonville on the coast and we’ll go from June through to October,” says Marchini. “Then November until February we’ll do a winter program in the Central valley and then we go to Mexico for February and March and then back to the Valley for April-May.”

Despite the trend in which radicchio demand tends to slow down for summer due to several reasons, including the greater availability of local vegetables, demand is strong right now for this more unique lettuce. “Even though it’s quiet, demand is strong for it and all sorts of items. Our economy is doing well and that’s gaining momentum,” says Marchini. “We’re able to catch the tail-end of that because radicchio is kind of a niche, luxury item. If we’re seeing an uptick in that, then people have extra disposable income and will try and add radicchio into the mix. It is one of the more expensive lettuces.”

While pricing on radicchio tends to stay stable and isn’t as susceptible to the fluctuations other lettuces see due to demand and supply, Marchini says they are trying to get more for raddichio this year. “Wages, materials, transportation costs are all going up,” he says. “But overall prices are a bit under compared to last year because we were coming off the wet spring. We’re trying to hold the prices now but I can feel them coming down a bit.”