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To Market

Besides oysters, hurricanes didn't boost food prices

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published October 12, 2005

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have largely spared Florida food shoppers. In fact, two supermarket chains say that customers should feel little impact from the storms.

Still, even if supplies of produce and seafood remain ample, other factors could make them more expensive to take home.

There is some good news: Stone crab season opens Saturday and the initial catch is expected to be plentiful. Prices will be set once the early haul comes ashore.

However, those who crave oysters should definitely expect to pay more. And fruits and vegetables are likely to join the tide of rising prices as well, the result of higher fuel costs and a shortage of trucks to get product to markets, says an industry spokesman.

Floridians may have an advantage. Early fall crops are being harvested and, barring bad weather, the state is getting into high gear to fill its traditional role as America's winter market basket.

Katrina's damage to Florida's produce was limited mainly to tropical fruits, such as avocadoes, grown in the south, said Les Harrison, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture. Though the storm delayed some planting, it had little overall effect on the state's agriculture, Harrison said.

"It's pretty much of a standard fall here. We're keeping our fingers crossed," he said.

Maria Brous, spokeswoman for Publix Super Markets Inc., said that customers should not worry about shortages.

"Since we have suppliers around the country and around the world, if it's not available in one area, we can count on another supplier," she said. Shoppers, though, could see a slight increase in snapper prices, she said.

Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association also predicts that fruit and vegetable bins will be well-stocked. However, rising fuel prices will affect prices, she said.

Besides, she said, "There is a trucking shortage for the produce industry overall, and there has been additional pressure on transportation because of the relief effort. It is certainly raising prices for everything."

The good news from Louisiana is that the state's important sweet potato crop appears to have been spared.

"From what I've been told, sweet potatoes are doing well. They are about 40 percent harvested and 52 percent of the growers report their crop to be in good condition," said Ashley Rodrigue of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Like sweet potatoes, pecans conjure thoughts of the approaching holidays. The reports are that pecan crops in Louisiana and Alabama incurred millions of dollars in damage.

In Alabama, said Ron Sparks, commissioner of that state's department of agriculture and industries, 90 percent of the pecans have been wiped out.

October usually is a good month to shop for apples, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cucumbers, spinach, cranberries, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, pumpkins, winter squash, sweet potatoes, pears and bell peppers.

Because oysters are in short supply and are predicted to be a pricey ingredient in holiday recipes, it's time to take solace in stone crabs.

In seafood circles, though, the talk remains focused on oysters. At Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay Supermarkets, that's what comes up when hurricanes Katrina and Rita are mentioned.

"To our knowledge, oysters are the primary item where customers will see a shortage," spokeswoman Nicole LeBeau said. Prices, she warned, will be higher.

Though prices have already risen, they will continue to climb until oyster beds are recultivated, said Cherylyn Harley LeBon of the National Fisheries Institute.

"The loss of the oyster beds has been particularly devastating for Louisiana, which produces 40 percent of the nation's oysters," she said. Over 3,000 full-time jobs have been lost.

"It's not just the oysters themselves. It's the docks. It's the ice houses. It's the processing plants. It's the whole infrastructure that goes into getting the oysters onto people's plates," she said.

The economic impact to the state is at least $290-million.

Patrick Banks, a Louisiana state marine biologist, said oyster mortality from Katrina on the state's southeastern coastline was 60 percent, much lower than originally estimated.

Rita, "pretty much impacted the rest of our coastline," he said. "Our preliminary estimate looks to be about 30 percent mortality."

That percentage might be higher, he said, since no samples have yet been taken at Louisiana's Calcasieu Lake, which held about 25 percent of the state's oyster stock. "I'm certainly afraid of what we will find," he said. "Because of this additional impact from Rita, oyster prices continue to climb."

Before the storms, Banks said, a 100- to 110-pound sack of oysters at the dock cost about $20. After Katrina, the price climbed to about $26 to $28. Now he's hearing that sack prices are up to $30.

"That's the highest sack price I have on record," the marine biologist said.

Paul Johnson of Seven Springs Seafood in New Port Richey said his supplier told him not to expect any Gulf Coast oysters for a while. About two weeks after Katrina, pint containers had increased by $1 and boxes of 30 pounds had gone up by $2, said Johnson, adding that he decided not to pass on the additional cost to customers.

Before the hurricanes, he sold pints of oysters for $8.95 and boxes for $19.50.

That will change with the next delivery. "It will have to, because I think it's going to be a longer term price hike than we anticipated," Johnson said.

Gib Migliano of Save on Seafood in St. Petersburg said he has been out of oysters for two weeks but anticipated a shipment late last week. He expected to pay at least $3 more for a 15-pound box. Meanwhile, the outlook for stone crabs seems good, he said. In anticipation, Migliano said, crabbers on the northern Gulf Coast have been ordering an abundance of bait - grouper heads.

- Waveney Ann Moore writes about produce and seafood monthly for the Taste section. She can be reached at 727 892-2283 or moore@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 09:36:05]