Saturday, May 25, 2019

Markets in Los Angeles keep running out of celery due to a new juicing craze

LAT:
the “Medical Medium,” may have no actual medical training or a professional background in healthcare, but that hasn’t stopped him from publishing four New York Times bestselling nutrition books extolling the benefits of celery juice, all while winning personal endorsements from celebrities

...

At Erewhon, organic celery sales have increased over 350% at each of its locations since the start of 2019. Gelson’s, meanwhile, says sales are up more than 200% compared with this time last year. And at Lassens, purchases have doubled in recent months, which has caused some locations to occasionally run out of celery entirely.

...

The juicing craze has caused celery prices to spike — to as much as $5 a bunch at organic health food stores such as Erewhon. According to the Western Growers Assn., the average retail price for celery in Los Angeles has jumped more than 30% over the last year to $2.59 a bunch. Over that same period, the price farmers were paid per bunch of celery has skyrocketed by 670% to $2.63.

...

[The author] dubbed himself the Medical Medium because he claims to receive health and nutrition secrets from a voice that he refers to as “Spirit.” He says he began hearing the voice as a young child growing up in Maine in the ’70s.