Winter 2022 Regional Market Report News

Major Updates

Weather conditions, supply chain status, and inflation continue to impact several crops.

MUSTARD

The 2021 mustard seed harvest was significantly reduced due to severe drought conditions in the primary growing regions of Western Canada. The global raw material yield of mustard seed was reduced by approximately 60% from the prior year. The shortage of raw material has caused the price of mustard to spike and has severely reduced production capacity with major mustard producers. However, due to strong partnerships with our supplier network in France, Roland Foods is confident that we have secured access to product to service customer demand in a short market.

SESAME OIL

Sesame Oil prices are expected to rise in 2022, primarily due to global supply chain constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the raw material yield has been reduced this year due to several factors, including political turmoil in key growing regions of Africa and poor weather conditions in India, the primary drivers of inflation in this category are rapidly increasing demand for products derived from sesame seeds (e.g., tahini), high ocean freight prices, and ongoing challenges in producing countries with sourcing labor and packaging materials.

COUSCOUS

The price for Durum wheat skyrocketed in the summer of 2021 to the highest levels since 2011 due to severe drought in the upper Midwest of the United States. As Durum wheat is the key ingredient in the production of couscous, this raw material shortage has caused prices to rise exponentially. The drought has coincided with a rapid increase in demand for couscous (and other products produced with Durum wheat, such as pasta), as well as increases in costs for packaging, labor, and transportation as the U.S. has continued to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these factors further compound the impact of the raw material price increase.