How the Prune Market was Able to Protect Itself Against COVID-Related Industry Downfalls
The Pandemic has impacted various areas of human life. It has impacted all industries slowing down economic activities around the world. However, the food industry was one industry that was the least impacted. The prune market was able to protect itself against COVID-related industry downfall in many ways.
Having No Substitutions Helped!
Firstly, prune does not have a substitute product. It is a dry fruit used in the production of foods, desserts, medicines, and even beverages. As prune is a substitute, it never leaves the market.
Since producers cannot find a substitute or other alternative for the product, its demand never dries down. That way, its production kept rising, and the prune market survived.
Demand Remained The Same
Also, the demand for prune remained the same regardless. Actually, in many cases, prunes were used as an integral part of the diet. It is because it has nutrients that are necessary to develop a stronger immune system.
An increase in the demand curve led to an increase in supply. Since more prunes were being produced, firms kept making a profit as the demand for their product never really went down.
Prices Rose But With A High Demand
Since the demand was high for prunes, prices began to rise. However, not for the reason you’d think. Since the crop size was lower due to the general problems that came with COVID-19, prices had to rise.
In particular, the Chilean crop size was quite low due to the summer rains. For this reason, prices for those rose followed by prices of all origins such as French, Serbian and Moldovian and Argentinean prunes increasing as well.
On the contrary, the California prunes didn’t seem to suffer the same fate as its South American counterparts. In fact, according to the California Prune Board report, the 2021 harvest concluded with slight uncertainty among prune producers and processors.
The overall quality, sweetness, and sizes of the harvest met the premium standards expected from California.
Robust domestic and international shipments were able to continue throughout 2021 in spite of the shipping crisis. The increased shipments combined with added pressure due to short crops in other producing regions, have tightened California’s carefully managed inventories.
The prune market adapted ways to ensure that the product they produced was hygienic. They did not hire more labor but remained in the realms of what they already had. This prevented any further loss than what was already expected.
