Yahoo Finance Rain to blame for lettuce shortages in Canada
If you’ve been pining for some leafy greens but have been unable to track them down, you’re not alone: some stores in Canada are posting signs reporting that their normal lettuce supply has been interrupted.
The reason for this lack of lettuce: Heavy rains in California.
“All the rains they’ve had, there have been issues with quality, with leaf lettuce having bugs and mildew because of all the moisture,” Mohammad Nazari, the purchasing and sales manager at J.E. Russell Produce Ltd. in Toronto, told CTV News.
“…They’re not shipping it out if it has quality issues. So it’s created a real … shortage that has been building and going on for about a month and half now.”
Lettuce — including romaine, iceberg and even packaged salads — isn’t the only produce getting hurt by heavy rains, either. Almond production slowed in late March, as the downpours have been preventing bees from pollinating the flowers. The nuts are traditionally a huge consumer of water. using up to 10 per cent of California’s agricultural water supply, so an oversaturation is significant.
However, there is good news on the horizon: rains in California have largely subsided, so supplies should be returning to normal soon. In the meantime, consumers may see slightly higher prices for lettuce, as well as other crops affected by the heavy rains including celery, cauliflower and broccoli.
“Celery at the stores is usually around $1.99, but they’re starting to sell for $3.99 or even $4.99. And we’re hearing that cauli(flower) is up at $5.99,” Nazari told CTV News.
Supply levels will build up over the next few weeks, after which the scarcity issues should be resolved.
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