Fresh From The Farm

May 29, 2013

Potatoes

The Idaho carton market continues to get stronger moving into July. Many shippers in Idaho have raised FOB prices for cartons due to lower pack-outs in the Russet Burbank crop. Shippers have had to slow down due to a rougher Burbank storage crop. Pressure bruising and internal black are some of the main quality issues.

Red potatoes continues to have supply issues throughout the month of June, thanks to weather-related issues and less than normal acres of red potatoes planted in every growing region. This continues to put pressure on the market.

 Lettuce

Not much has changed since last week. The weather in the Salinas Valley continues to be optimal for product quality and yields.  Some fog in the mornings and evenings.

Iceberg Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, and Green Leaf Lettuce – Overall quality is good and supply is plentiful. Very occasional tip burn but able to trim down the heads as needed.   

Tomatoes

Tomatoes remain tight in Florida with each grower still in light production in the Palmetto-Ruskin area.  Some growers are reporting they will have light volume next week and they will be waiting on their South Georgia and South Carolina crops to begin sometime the week of the 10th. 

After last week's rush on roma tomatoes prior to the holiday, the market has settled a bit with the lower demand this week. Production appears to be good coming out of Baja with some additional growers increasing in volume to add to the overall supply. Additional growers are beginning to harvest grape tomatoes. The market is trending downward.  We are looking forward to the growers in the west to begin harvest by mid June to add additional volume and provide promotional level pricing on grape tomatoes.

There is a limited supply of cherry tomatoes at this time; the cherry tomato market is higher than normal for this time of the year.  Like grape tomatoes, the west will bring in additional purchasing options and a more competitive market.

Onions

Yellows onions are mostly steady in all areas. The availability is a little light since New Mexico and California’s San Joaquin Valley are just getting started while Texas and the California desert are finishing up. Expect better numbers by the weekend though. Reds are lower in California, steady in Texas, and New Mexico is just getting started. Whites are steady in all areas. The quality has been good in Texas and better in California.

Berries

Strawberries- The strawberry market is firm with good demand starting off this week. The cool weather and the Santa Maria Growers switching 60% of their harvest to the freezer markets has help keep the market firm. Some light rain and heavy mist earlier this week will slow production. A warming trend mid-week into the weekend which should help supplies going into the weekend. Quality is good out of the Salinas/Watsonville areas.

Blackberries- Things continue to be short and all suppliers are pro rating heavily due to little to no production out of Mexico.  California is starting light production.  Pricing will remain high as we move into domestic black berries.

Raspberries- Demand and production look good.  Crop is developing nicely in Northern California.  Look for pricing to slowly decrease moving forward.

Blueberries- California in peak weeks with great volume…..southeast will be very short and gapping until Rabbit Eye starts next weekend. Market Trends Moving Forward:  Market should not get any higher and be constant this week with last week then start to come down.

Citrus

Navel Oranges – The season is expected to finish up in the first or second week of June.

Valencia - Are up and running. To start there is limited volume on the 56s and larger and good volume on the 88 and 113s.  Fancy to choice ratio is 80% fancy and 20% choice.

Lemons – Market is very strong.  Most of the product is coming from district two. Fancy to choice ratio is 70% fancy and 30% choice. Demand exceeds supply until we start seeing volume from Chile arrive.  Start to expect Chile supply by early July.

Limes - Pricing is down a slight bit on the larger fruit (110's, 150's and 175's) and stable on the smaller fruit (200's, 230's and 250's).  Quality of the fruit is very good with little to no skin blemishes (scarring and shading) and little defects (stylar and brown/sugar spotting).

Fruits

Grapes- The Mexico/Coachella region has harvested good volume through this week.  Mexican flames and perlettes are readily available and market pricing has declined through the week.  Flames out of Coachella are readily available with sugraones still tight.  Better availability next week on the green variety.

Avocados- Mexico still has fair supplies, but limited on 48’s and 40’s.They will still be the main supplier to the eastern markets. California is still increasing in volume and starting to gain size on their fruit. Strong demand is firming markets on 40’s/48’s/60’s.

Watermelons- Supplies continued to be very tight all the way through the Memorial Day pull. We continue to see FL volume increase, but nowhere near to the volume that’s needed to cover demand.

Cantaloupe / Honeydews- Domestic Melons out of Brawley and Holtville are in full swing with decent supplies next week expected. Sizing will be mainly 9s with few 12s and very minimal 15s for the next couple weeks. Yuma will start around the first part of June with Maricopa coming in around the same time.  Honeydews have decent supplies with sizing to be mainly 6s, with few 5s/8s.  Mexico will continue to cross limited suppliers of Cantaloupes and Honeydews for the next 1-2 weeks.

Pineapples- Market is very tight, there is a wide range in the market depending on Country of origin, quality and age. Limited volume expected next few weeks.

Vegetables

Cucumbers- Market is steady. Overall, supplies are good. Quality in all growing areas is good.

Peppers- Market continues to be active. West Coast has good supplies on choice and smaller fruit with limited supplies on the rest. Georgia is in production with limited supplies . Overall, demand remains good. Quality is also good. Supplies are anticipated to improve over the next few weeks.

Green Onions- This market remains steady. Moderate supplies continue to come from Mexico. Domestic Green Onions should be available within the next couple of week. Quality remains good.

Eggplant- This market is steady. Better supplies are being seen on both the West and East coast. Georgia is now 2 weeks out and a gap is anticipated as a result of transitioning to Georgia. Overall, quality is good.

Green Beans- The market is weakening. As indicated last week, supplies continue to improve. Quality is good. Tennessee and North Carolina are the next growing areas to begin.       

Broccoli- This market is stronger, particularly on Crowns. Supplies started out light this week, but are expected to improve heading into next week due to the excellent weather in Salinas. Demand remains good. Quality also remains good.  

Cauliflower- This market remains strong. There continues to be a light gap in production. Supplies are expected to improve with the ideal weather in Salinas. Quality remains good.   

Squash- West coast market continues to be unsettled on both Italian and yellow S/N Squash. Supplies are light due to older fields finishing. Georgia on the East Coast is producing good volumes.  This market is softer. Shippers out of central Florida are looking to move volume as well. Overall, quality is fair to good.

Asparagus-  Domestic supplies are expected to be available until the end of June. Imported grass has good supply. Demand for domestic product is keeping the market firm. 

Jalapenos- Mexico’s volume continues to be down as a result of “Bloom Drop”. Florida’s and Georgia’s volumes continue to be light as a result of weather conditions as well. Quality is fair to good.