News and Stories

Garlic continues to be in short supply, especially peeled garlic. Domestic weather fluctuations, including a warmer-than-normal winter and late-season rains in June and July, are accounting for smaller bulb and clove size as well as low yields. Supplies are forecast to meet demand, but growers are monitoring inventories.

Peeled Garlic

• Ready-Set-Serve (RSS) Peeled Garlic orders are being filled 100%, but being kept to average volumes
• This year’s domestic crop is yielding more off-grade garlic, resulting in only 30% of usable product in some fields
• The low percentage of quality garlic is causing a supply shortage of domestic peeled stocks
• Warm nighttime temperatures during the winter growing season led to smaller, underdeveloped bulbs and cloves; garlic requires a certain number of cold units (or cold nights) for proper development
• Late-season irrigations were applied in an effort to promote further bulb development, but this caused some root deterioration, resulting in pieces of the root remaining attached to some cloves

Fresh Garlic

• Garlic staining will be apparent in most fresh garlic supplies this year (when drying, garlic and the dry skins absorb excess water and muddy soil)
• In addition to late season irrigations, rain fell on California fields in June and July, leading to more staining than has been seen in many years
• An effort is being made to remove stains during packing, but some bulbs will retain this defect
• Staining is a purely cosmetic issue and does not affect quality or flavor; expect it to be apparent on fresh garlic supplies for the next eight months of this shipping season

Imported Garlic

• Chinese garlic is available, but tight domestic supplies are keeping prices elevated
• Chinese peeled garlic has a similar shelf-life to California product; the flavor profile is less pungent as there is a higher water content and less oil
• A small percentage is also imported from Argentina, Mexico, and Spain

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.

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