Sorrel price spike
Published:Sunday | December 29, 2024 | 12:10 AMLuke Douglas - Gleaner Writer
The supply of sorrel, a favourite Christmas drink in Jamaica, has declined this season with at least one supplier paying up to 60 per cent more to source the crop.
The market blames the reduction on the impact of Hurricane Beryl and the subsequent continuous rainfall throughout the island.
Trade Winds Limited, a major producer in Jamaica, said it paid more to meet demand.
“We are not worried about undersupply. We have gotten most of what we need. We are down five to 10 per cent on volume, but it has come at a price,” Peter McConnell, managing director of Trade Winds Citrus, said.
His company paid up to $400 per pound for sorrel, up from $250 per pound in previous years.
“We have adequate supplies of sorrel to satisfy the anticipated demand this holiday season,” said McConnell, who markets sorrel under the Tru-Juice label.
He said Trade Winds has purchased “more than 60,000 pounds of sorrel in the last couple of months” from its network of farmers spread right across the island.
He said that despite the tight supplies and higher prices, “sorrel will be available throughout the holiday season, and we have not passed on these additional costs”.
McConnell said the company’s biggest seller each month is orange juice, with the exception of December when sorrel takes the lead.
Meanwhile at the Coronation Market in Kingston, the country’s largest municipal market, sorrel was being sold at $700 per pound last week.
Commenting on the sorrel shortage, former president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Lenworth Fulton said the crop is planted year-round, but planting is usually ramped up in June and July to meet the heavy Yuletide demand.
So when Beryl struck on July 3, the plants had just started to bloom, and the wind blew down many of the young plants, the result of which is the shortage for most of the second half of the year, Fulton explained.
The main parishes for growing sorrel are Clarendon in areas such as Crofts Hill and Morant as well as Westmoreland, which produced significant amounts over the past decade, Fulton said. “But all parishes grow sorrel because it is a very tolerant crop,” the former JAS head said.
McConnell said his company steeps sorrel in hot water in a massive kettle, similar to how it is traditionally prepared in the home. He said the manufacturing process takes two to three days after which it is distributed directly to the trade.
McConnell said his company tried growing sorrel themselves but is now happy with supplies from its network of farmers.
“Every crop has its challenges, and we are focused on the crops that we know and understand better,” the Trade Winds boss said. “Also want to support and encourage small farmers, so if we can get adequate supplies from the farmer network, we would rather go that route. We don’t have to grow everything ourselves if we have reliable supplies, so we spread the joy around so that everyone can ‘eat a food’,” said McConnell in reference to a Jamaican neologism.
Meanwhile he wants more farmers to plant the crop year round to streamline supplies outside the Christmas season.