Local grocery stores are offering an early Thanksgiving cornucopia of fresh produce, courtesy of a bountiful harvest in Hawaii and on the mainland, as well as a downturn in traffic at hotels and restaurants. NOW MORE THAN EVER, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS -- and the STOMACH.
LOOK AT THESE GROCERY PRICES: PAPAYAS AT 39 CENTS A POUND; BANANAS, 89 CENTS A POUND; CANTALOUPES, 59 CENTS A POUND.
WITH CONSUMERS REAPING THE BENEFITS OF CHEAPER PRODUCE, THE TIME IS RIPE FOR A . . .
By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comWith fewer people dining out, bargains are sprouting on supermarket shelves, particularly for fruits and vegetables.
A sampling of prices this week shows papayas at 39 cents a pound, broccoli at 69 cents a pound, cantaloupe at 59 cents a pound, apple bananas at 89 cents a pound and red and green lettuce at 89 cents each.
"There's basically no big demand, so prices are really good (for consumers) right now," said Neil Otani, president of wholesale produce supplier Fukunaga Y Products Ltd. "We've seen the numbers drop off from restaurants, hotels, airlines and now the cruise ships. It's taken a toll."
Demand for produce on the mainland is also down, so some of the normal patterns usually seen at this time of year haven't occurred yet, Otani said.
"California grows the bulk of the produce, but there's basically no demand on the East Coast," he said. "Usually by now we are at a time of year where growing areas are moving south, but this year it's not moving as fast as it should."
"On the mainland, demand has dropped substantially, plus they've had good weather, so that causes more product to be available," said Mark Teruya, president of Armstrong Produce, one of the largest produce wholesalers in Hawaii.
While competitive supermarket prices are good news for Hawaii consumers, it's been tough for some local growers of late, especially those who grow specialty produce like lettuce, tomatoes and mixed baby greens for some of Hawaii's fine dining restaurants.
Dean Okimoto, Nalo Farms specialty greens grower, said the drop in orders was dramatic immediately after Sept. 11.
But things are slowly improving.
"Now we're down about 15 to 20 percent," he said.
Still, produce orders are erratic as cautious restaurateurs try to gauge how much product they will need on any given day, Okimoto said.
"It's really up and down. We get calls one day where they won't order anything, and the next day they'll order a ton," he said.
Likewise, Garen Kawamata, one of the owners of the Big Island's Kawamata Farms, which grows tomatoes, noticed a sudden drop in restaurant and hotel orders after Sept. 11.
"Suddenly hotels were taking considerably less; it probably dropped by about 60 percent," said Kawamata.
But aggressive pricing strategies and contracts with a number of local supermarkets have helped at least some local growers, like Kawamata, to offset losses taken in the hotel and restaurant sector.
Demand for locally-grown tomatoes from Kawamata Farms, normally costing more than $4 a tray at the supermarket, have translated into consumer prices as low as $2.79 this week.
Between the larger supermarket orders and aggressive promotions, Kawamata said he moved perhaps three to four times as many tomatoes with the supermarkets as he normally would.
There is also a light at the end of the tunnel for improving restaurant and hotel orders, both Kawamata and Okimoto said.
"Some hotels have picked up, although they're not at full capacity yet. It seems like some wholesalers are taking almost as much as before," Kawamata said.
