Bloody hell! Horseradish producer warns of shortage
MILWAUKEE – Horseradish, the root that adds a spicy kick to sauces and food, might not be heating things up this winter.
The world’s largest grower and supplier of horseradish, Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based Huntsinger Farms and its subsidiary Silver Spring Foods, predicts a shortage in early 2020.
That means bloody marys with a good kick and cocktail sauce that clears sinuses could be hard to come by early next year.
The company has experienced three seasons of unusually wet and cold weather, forcing it to harvest less than normal.
This fall, Silver Spring Foods wasn’t able to harvest about 1.5 million to 2 million pounds of horseradishes before snow fell in late October. Those crops will now stay in the ground until spring.
“We got about half of what we were expecting out of the ground. We are concerned that we will not be able to make it through,” said Silver Spring Foods President Eric Rygg.
Horseradish roots are harvested in fall or spring and then replanted immediately after harvest. Horseradish typically spends about 12 to 18 months in the ground.
Silver Spring Foods already was behind in production from a lower harvest in fall 2018, and subsequently planting fewer new horseradish seeds.
In the past, Silver Spring Foods would purchase horseradish from other suppliers from areas that didn’t have inclement weather. But this year other suppliers are struggling to harvest their yield.
“We have been able to purchase what we need from other farmers, and this is the first time in our history that we haven’t been able to bridge that gap,” Rygg said. “They’re also tight and facing some similar weather patterns.”
Silver Spring Foods has begun to notify buyers of the shortage. Their horseradish is sold everywhere from grocery stores to restaurants, to companies that use horseradish in their sauces.
“We are filling orders. We’re just rationing some of our orders right now to try and make it last,” Rygg said. “The biggest question for us is how long will the root supply for us last.”
Rygg believes that buyers haven’t felt the effect of the shortage yet.
“The shortages would probably come in the February, March time frame,” he said.
While weather has depleted the harvest for Silver Spring Farms, demand for horseradish has risen.
“We had an overall increase in demand for horseradish recently. More companies are discovering the benefit of it adding a lot of flavor that doesn’t add fat, sugar and calories,” Rygg said. “It makes the problem twofold.”