February 2023 Regional Market Report News

Crop Updates

Kalamata Olives

Popular olive producing countries including Spain, France, and Morocco have been experiencing severe drought, directly impacting crop production of Kalamata olives. However, Greece has seen excellent yields of Kalamatas this year.

With the growing success so far, producers are expecting a 10% increase in Kalamata olive yields in 2023. New crop from Greece will be available for shipping upon completion of the fermentation process in April or May. Notable changes in the crop include a disproportionally higher number of smaller olives in this year’s harvest.

Dijon Mustard

The Dijon mustard category has experienced a multitude of challenges over the past year, but the vision of recovery remains optimistic. While the overall supply is beginning to recover from the mustard seed crop shortage in Summer of 2021, the war in Ukraine exacerbated shortages in the mustard seed market while increased energy prices, packaging delays, and general labor shortages also made an impact. Though the 2022 seed harvest was greatly improved, Canadian mustard seed farmers increased pricing as a response to the increased demand for raw material.

The category management team at Roland Foods has been in diligent contact with our partners in France to develop a view of the coming year, securing ourselves as a top priority for production and taking the necessary measures to procure the resources needed to meet a growing demand for Dijon mustard. We are hopeful that the conditions in Europe stabilize, and we remain proactive in our efforts to continually provide high-quality product and reliable service.

Global Supply Chain and Logistics Updates

December Import Volumes Identical to November (2022)

At this time last year, the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were headlined as the epicenter of the global supply chain crisis, with over 100 container vessels sitting at anchor off the U.S West coast . A few months later, the backlog shifted causing the East Coast to experience a near triple digit backlog.

As we continue to see progress, it’s easy to forget how severely supply chains were impacted 6- 12 months ago. December 2022 closed the year with U.S imports relatively flat month over month, even as last-minute holiday orders reached U.S ports and Asian suppliers distributed cargo ahead of Chinese New Year. For several weeks now, imports have been arriving at a manageable rate, which has allowed ports and rails to begin to eliminate backlog that built up through 2022.

Q1 2023 and potentially Q2 are expected to see this import volume continue to decline as retailers sell through warehouse inventory and consumers tighten their spending. During this time, we expect to see ocean transit times and port delays return to pre-pandemic normal.

At Roland Foods, we are busy working with carriers to solidify the best ocean services possible to continue to improve our product flow in and out of our warehouses.

Source: Descartes