Happy St. Patrick's Day

Although St. Patrick's Day may not be the biggest holiday of the year for produce sales, volume certainly does increase for cabbage and root vegetables like potatoes and carrots.  Reports I have read vary, but generally, suppliers report that demand for cabbage around St. Patrick's Day increases by anywhere from 70-200% compared to other times of the year depending on what part of the country your looking at. It is estimated that U. S. growers will harvest more than 66,000 acres of cabbage for the holiday.

"St. Patrick's Day cabbage movement is not just the next big thing, it's the biggest cabbage thing of the year," Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News on Feb. 5. From the retail market, Brian Fleming, Lead Merchandiser for Ahold USA reports that the retail giant will purchase 20% more cabbage and carrots and 12-15% more potatoes for the St. Patrick's holiday than during normal times.

One of the larger wholesalers in the US reported that their normal volume for one region in New England is 1100 cases of cabbage per week but that volume increases to 5000 cases per week for the two weeks leading up to the holiday. Helping to increase demand, restaurants, bars, and pubs around the country will add the traditional corned beef and cabbage or as we call it here in Boston, a New England Boiled Dinner to their menu's for the day. For those of you out there that don't know what's included in a New England Boiled Dinner, it consists of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips and onion.  Dan Fitzgerald the owner of Casey's Pub in Somerville, MA told me that "while corned beef and cabbage is not on the regular menu, Casey's will typically serve between 100-150 boiled dinners on St. Patrick's Day. This winter has had a terrible effect on restaurants and bars in the northeast and owners are hoping that everyone will come out and celebrate the day with a great meal and of course a few beers."

A recent report in the Boston Globe reported "accumulating winter snows costing Massachusetts companies more than $1 billion in lost sales and productivity." Proprietors and retailers in the northeast are hoping that the holiday will help their customers loose those winter blues and jump into spring with a brighter more outgoing attitude.