Marian Zboraj09.04.07
Company officials at Valensa International, LLC, Eustis, FL, have recently completed both a pre-harvest and ongoing harvest evaluation, finding the outlook for the 2007 saw palmetto crop to be “poor.” In early August, Valensa issued a memorandum to customers citing a summer drought and the harvesting of unripe berries for the decrease in availability of nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto raw materials for the harvest season that will run from late August through October. In the memorandum the company issued price increases for nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto extract of about 20%-30% depending on contractual situations.
According to Dr. Rudi Moerck, president of Valensa, what looked to be an excellent initial saw palmetto bloom earlier this year has turned into one of the worst berry yields on record. The size of the saw palmetto crop is potentially below market demand. “The world’s supply of saw palmetto comes from the Southeastern United States—and nowhere else. While the dry conditions in this region in the early spring resulted in an extensive bloom of saw palmetto berry blossoms, the continuing drought in the Southeastern U.S. has caused a significant drop and loss of berries, and the corresponding reduction of the size of the berries that remain on the plants compared to previous years. This looks like a marginal to poor year for the availability of good saw palmetto berries,” he said.
Another factor that limits the availability of nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto raw materials this year is activity by berry buyers that purchase immature, green saw palmetto berries. The harvesting of berries before they are ripe means that fewer berries will be available for nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto extract, exacerbating the supply issues resulting from the smaller than usual crop.
According to Dr. Rudi Moerck, president of Valensa, what looked to be an excellent initial saw palmetto bloom earlier this year has turned into one of the worst berry yields on record. The size of the saw palmetto crop is potentially below market demand. “The world’s supply of saw palmetto comes from the Southeastern United States—and nowhere else. While the dry conditions in this region in the early spring resulted in an extensive bloom of saw palmetto berry blossoms, the continuing drought in the Southeastern U.S. has caused a significant drop and loss of berries, and the corresponding reduction of the size of the berries that remain on the plants compared to previous years. This looks like a marginal to poor year for the availability of good saw palmetto berries,” he said.
Another factor that limits the availability of nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto raw materials this year is activity by berry buyers that purchase immature, green saw palmetto berries. The harvesting of berries before they are ripe means that fewer berries will be available for nutraceutical-quality saw palmetto extract, exacerbating the supply issues resulting from the smaller than usual crop.