Produce Market Update 5/30/2013

POTATOES

High potential for supply gaps of red potatoes continues throughout the month of June, thanks to weather-related issues and less than normal acres of red potatoes planted in every growing region.  Although Fla. growers will be wrapping up their shipments of red potatoes by June 7, growers in the Suwannee region will have about 400 acres of red potatoes available the week of June 3, but supplies will go quickly.

California growers planted 35 percent fewer acres of red potatoes, but look for increased availability toward the end of the week, although demand still exceeds supplies. Growers in Ariz. and Persall, Texas have already sold their crops, and will be wrapping up harvests by the end of the week. Following the trend for fewer acres planted, growers in N.C. and Va. have 50 percent fewer acres of red potatoes planted and are expected to begin their harvests the week of June 24. Growers in Muleshoe, Texas will begin their harvests two or three weeks later than usual—beginning the week of July 8.

Overall, the russet potato market continues to inch upward as inventories decline across the nation, as is traditional this time of year. The strongest increase continues to be in the carton sizing.

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.

Availability for white potatoes has tightened up, yet pricing continues to be stable; new crop white potatoes are available from growers in both Fla. and Calif. Excellent quality yellow potatoes are growing in availability out of Calif. and Ariz., leading to slightly lower pricing. The main source for fingerlings is Calif., and the product looks great, but they garner a higher price.

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 – Overall quality is good with weights averaging 45-47 lbs.  Suppliers are packing in CVF Brand.  Supply is plentiful.

Romaine Lettuce – Overall quality is good.  Very occasional tip burn but able to trim down the heads as needed.   Case weights averaging 34-37 lbs.  CVF Brand is being packed.  Supply is plentiful.

Green Leaf Lettuce – Overall quality is good.  Very occasional fringe burn but able to trim down where needed.  CVF Brand is being packed.  Supply is plentiful.

ONIONS

Yellows 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.

  

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.  This harvest projection does little to aid in breaking the market.  There is some 6x7 size fruit available behind growers which gives the indication that if there is going to be a market change it will be on smaller sizes.  In addition to the small accumulation of 6x7 tomatoes, the current crown picking in not yielding a tremendous amount of size which will allow the 5x6 and larger market to remain firm.

After last week's rush on roma tomatoes prior to the holiday, the market has settled a bit with the lower demand this week.  Trucking has also been a problem in the west to allow for a consistent market on roma tomatoes.  Production appears to be good coming out of Baja with some additional growers increasing in volume to add to the overall supply.

 With additional growers beginning harvest, the grape tomato 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.

 The market for hothouse beefstake tomatoes has finally come down.  Some of this is attributable to the completion of holiday ads and some is due to lighter demand now that the Florida crop is producing enough to meet the needs of the buyers of field grown product.

    Fruit

STRAWBERRIES

Santa Maria continues to wind down….a lot of fruit taken out of fresh production.  Some ranches still harvesting berries. Things continue to be tight in the North as demand will eases up some post-holiday the end of this week should be plenty of open fruit. Market Trends Moving Forward:  Pricing should start to drop by end of this week. 

RASPBERRIES / BLACKBERRIES

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.

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.

STONE FRUIT

The California stone fruit season is here! The market is very active.  Apricots, yellow and white peaches, and yellow and white nectarines are all available and have been eating very well thus far. Red and black plums have started now as well.

Cherries - CA cherries movement is strong, moved into Bings this week. Still projecting to be done in CA by week of June 3^rd. WA has adjusted their projection DOWN but it is still 3 weeks away from scratching the first fruit. Looking for volume to start end of the week of June 17^th

APPLES / PEAR

Washington Apples – Apple shipments were up slightly for last week, up 52 loads versus targeted volume. Total movement versus target is still behind fairly significantly at 4,192 loads backwards versus target.

Golden Delicious Market is steady to higher, depending on size. Movement dipped vs. YTD target, dropping backwards vs. target to 331 loads YTD.

Granny Smith - Market steady with no improvement in movement versus the week previous. Some shippers have larger grannies to sell while others are struggling... Small un-stickered grannies are still snug. YTS movement is down 331 loads versus targeted movement. Granny imports from Chile have been off significantly…58% fewer than last year.

Galas – Gala market remained steady for the week, slowing down the upward trend mostly likely due to import volume increasing. YTD, Galas are behind target by 1,383 loads.

Red Delicious – Volume remaining solid, chipping away at the YTD targeted volume, now only behind by 1,248 loads YTD. Pricing seems steady.

Fuji’s – Market moving up on smaller sizing, even though still behind YTD targeted movement by 1,042 loads.

Honeycrisp- Still some Honey’s out there but coolers are cleaning up.

Braeburns - Movement still is pacing ahead of target, one of the few varieties to do so. Market remains steady. Pressures are quite varied between lots. YTD volume is actually ahead of target by 74 loads.

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Pears – D’Anjou market is strong …Shipments were actually ahead of target YTD volumes by 552 loads....Supplies on Import Packhams are still very limited and this has pushed up the market significantly…Bosc are available from Chile with NZ Bosc starting to show up…

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.

ORANGES AND LEMONS

Navel Oranges – The season is quickly coming to an end and is expected to finish up in the first or second week of June.  For the remainder of the year all sizes will be very tight.

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.

CITRUS

Grapefruit – Grapefruit is up and running and have started up with the Rio Red and Star Ruby.  The peak sizes at this time are 32, 36, followed by the 40s.  These will be available until the end of May and we will then move into the Star Ruby.

Texas

Grapefruit TX – We will be done for the season after next week.  5/9

Navel Oranges – Tight due rains and lack of harvesting

Valencia Oranges – light supplies. 

Florida

Grapefruit –   Done for the season.

Valencia orange – Done for the season

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).  The gap between the smaller fruit and larger fruit continues to close.  Quality of the fruit is very good with little to no skin blemishes (scarring and shading) and little defects (stylar and brown/sugar spotting). We are seeing nice green uniformed color on the limes that are coming in.  Looks like more of the smaller fruit will be coming in at the start of the week.

CANTALOUPES / 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.  Expect Jbo 9s to come into a gap with minimal supplies next week also.  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 for the next 1-2 weeks, great for spot buys, hard to pre-book.  Honeydews will be limited in Mexico and will be the same being great for spot buys, hard to pre-book. 

WATERMELON

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. We’ll see the typical retail demand decline in the beginning of next week, but orders will not fall to normal levels until we fill the pipeline. Yuma is just starting up, and Nogales is still in Mexican fruit with good quality. California should start in 3 to 4 weeks and should be heavier to 36s and 45s (expect 60s to be limited). We’ll be out of Edinburg over the next 3-4 weeks, and then we may see a gap due to the hail storm near Dallas a few weeks ago. Arcadia should be into more volume than we’re currently seeing, especial on big fruit. N. FL should begin in the next couple weeks, and we are expecting some disease pressure that could affect overall yields. Looking into June, we expect to continue a demand exceeds supply situation.

Personal Melons – Supplies will be available out of Mexico into Nogales and expect minimal volume next week for the next couple of weeks.  Texas is getting pushed back a few days due to cooler weather, and if we receive the rain that is in the forecast it could push it back again.  Florida is very late and limited.  LaBelle, Fl will be down to about 25-30% of our original projections.  We will start our Trenton, FL deal hopefully the week of May 20^th with limited volume.

BANANAS

Demand will be slightly lower this week following a holiday weekend but is expected to bounce back next week and stay steady through the July 4^th holiday.  Prices and supply are expected to remain steady.

PINEAPPLE

Market is very tight FOB Los Angeles, Philly, Florida, Texas, Parlier or Yuma with notice.  COO mostly Costa Rican, Panama, and a few Hawaiian. There is a wide range in the market depending on Country of origin, quality and age.  Costa Rica supplies are fair, a few more 8’s showing up. Mexican fruit running larger more to 5’s and 6’s. Central American fruit in flowing stge. Limited volume expected next few weeks.

Vegetables

CUCUMBERS

This market is steady.  Overall, supplies are good.  In the West, product is not being harvested from Baja.  It’s anticipated the volume will continue to increase out of Baja over the next few weeks.  Quality out of both areas is good.

 

 EGGPLANT

This market is steady.  Better supplies are being seen on both the West and East coast.  Georgia is now 2 weeks out from production.  Again, a gap is anticipated as a result of transitioning to Georgia when Florida wraps up.  Overall, quality is good.

   

BELL PEPPERS

This market continues to be active.  On the West Coast the market is unsettled.  Good supplies exist on Choice and smaller Fruit.  California has started on all sizes with limited supply.  Georgia is in production with limited supplies as well.  Overall, demand remains good.  Quality is also good.  Supplies are anticipated to improve over the next few weeks.

   

JALAPENO

FOB’s in the market has come down slightly.  As indicated, Mexico’s volume continues to be down as a result of “Bloom Drop” due to cold temperatures.  Also, Baja is still around 8 to 10 weeks out from production, as well as some eastern areas of Mexico (crossing through the Texas Valley).  Florida’s and Georgia’s volumes continue to be light as a result of weather conditions as well.  Quality is fair to good. 

SQUASH

In the West, this market continues to be unsettled on both Italian and yellow S/N Squash.  Supplies are light due to older fields being done.  Fresno continues to harvest out of the West.  Georgia on the East Coast is producing good volumes.  As a result, the market is a softer.   Shippers out of central Florida are looking to move volume as well.  Overall, quality is fair to good.

CABBAGE

This market remains strong.  Georgia’s supplies are anticipated to improve by the end of next week.  North Carolina has started with limited supplies.  California is now going with good sizing.  Florida will be finishing up shorter, with the wet fields hampering production.  New Mexico, again, is anticipated to start early June.  Overall, quality and demand remain good.

 

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 as well. It’s anticipated for this market to remain active.  There continues to be a light gap in production.  As with Broccoli, supplies are expected to improve with the ideal weather in Salinas.  Quality remains good.   

 

CARROTS

The market continues to be steady.  Supplies are good, with California being a light as a result of lower yield.    However, Jumbo’s continue to be tight due to challenges with sizing.  There are not report of quality issues, and demand remains good. 

CELERY

This market is easing.  Supplies are improving due to lesser “seeder” issues.  Michigan celery is still expected to start mid July, as well as Salinas starting a couple of weeks out.  Overall quality is fair to good. 

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.

ASPARAGUS

The market is steady.  Domestic supplies are expected to be available until the end of June.  Peruvian product entering on the East Coast is in good supply and, as a result, cheaper prices are available if loading in Florida.  Demand for domestic product is keeping the market firm, for supplies for domestic product are moderate at best. 

GREEN BEANS

The market is weakening.  As indicated last week, supplies continue to improve.  Quality is good.  Reminder:   Georgia will continue to harvest up until about June 15^th.  Tennessee and North Carolina are the next areas to begin.       

GARLIC

There were no reports of significant change in this market.  Pricing is easing.  Quality remains fair. 

For more information please contact Brian Isaeff, Territory Manager at US Foods San Francisco 925-588-3279