When I began in the business, there were over 170 packers of Artichokes in Spain and none in China, Peru and very few in Chile. Product was mostly packed fresh from the Spring Crop. The heat around Easter always ended the "COLMA" or large influx of raw material to auction and 90% of the years product was produced. Late November or early December production was small and used for marinated and bottoms nearly exclusively. Packing for this was only a few weeks.
This year there may be only 10 or so packers left in Spain of which only 4 or 5 are seriously adding production (for which the USA is the largest market).
This year packing of the "Winter" crop begins earlier then my memory recalls (end of October!) due to the ideal weather this fall... The importance of the winter crop increases as does the quality of the harvested material.
While the economic shake outs may continue, the turn around after the shortages of this year leaves the major producers rushing to fill the vacuum.
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