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• Mar 25

  Market Report
  

• Mar 15

  URGENT MARKET UPDATE
  

• Mar 12

  Seattle Tofu Company, Chu Minh Corp., Loses Food Processing License, Fined
  

• Mar 11

  Heavy Rain, High Temps Trigger Very Active Lettuce and Romaine Markets
  

• Mar 08

  Extreme Spike in California Hass Avocado Market from Inadequate Rain
  

Last Update: June 17, 2013

APPLES/PEARS
Washington Red Delicious is steady.    Reds are still peaking on extra-fancy 88/100’s and the smaller sizes and lower grades remain limited.  Golden Delicious is steady as well and is still peaking on 88/100’s. The Granny-Smith market is steady on the larger sizes and is still rising on 100’s and smaller. Grannies are still heavier to the 80’s and larger.  Galas are higher on most sizes and grades and availability remains limited as we approach the end of the season.  Fuji’s are also rising due to lower supplies.  Fuji’s are still peaking on 88’s and larger.  Washington D’Anjou’s pears are still available but supplies are limited.  The remaining fruit is mostly 100’s and larger and the US#1 grade. Several shippers are finished with D’Anjou’s already.  Red pears are almost finished for the season.  California expects to start packing new-crop Bartlett pears on approximately July 10th.

ASPARAGUS
Early crop reports indicate this commodity has moderate availability out of Mexico. Good quality is coming out of this region. Supplies are currently being harvested in Washington, California and Peru. The market overall is steady to begin the week. Peruvian product is being loaded on the East coast as well as the West coast.

AVOCADO
Demand remains strong for avocados.  Shipments are setting industry records. Mexico still has fair, but declining supplies. Seeing mostly 60’s and smaller and limited on 48’s and 40’s from Mexico. California is still increasing in volume, but not gaining a lot of size on their fruit. Strong demand on 48’s and larger sizes are keeping these sizes short, the market strong and prices firm. The 60’s and smaller are the value price sizes.

BELL PEPPERS
Western Bells:  Green bell market is steady.  New spring crops are currently shipping from Southern California and have started with mostly large fruit available.  Loading from Bakersfield, Thermal, Gilroy, and Los Angeles. Open field colored Red bell market is generally steady. Good availability from Southern California.  New districts coming online soon. Gold bell market continues steady availability is depends on growing district.
Eastern Bells: The pepper market is loosening up a bit with Georgia into decent volume now. 

BERRIES
Strawberries: Good demand continues to keep the strawberry market steady but firm. Most shippers are sold out a day or two in advance. Look for this to continue into the end of the month.  There is a wide range in quality out of both Salinas and Watsonville growing areas. Some of the quality defects include, bruising, overripe, white shoulder and green tips. The forecast is calling for cooling into Wednesday then a warming trend into the weekend.    
Raspberries: Moderate supplies and good demand has this market steady but firm. Quality is being reported as fair to good.  Supplies are coming out of Mexico, Oxnard and Salinas/Watsonville areas.
Blackberries: Moderate demand and supplies has this market steady. Mexico growers have finished for the season. Watsonville is the main growing area. Quality out of Watsonville is being reported as good.
Blueberries: Supplies out of California are winding down and a few shippers have finish for the season. The next areas to start will be Oregon, Washington and British Columbia which has started up in a light way.  Quality is being reported as good. Market is starting to firm up. The main pack is 6oz and pints.  East Coast supplies have been hindered due to wet with many shippers being sold out throughout the week. East coast market is tight with very limited supplies. North Carolina blues is trying to ramping up but weather keeps pushing them back. The main pack out of the East is pints.

BROCCOLI
This market is softer with some suppliers. There is a 2-3 dollar gap amongst the different shippers to start the week.  Demand continues to be off. Crowns continue to be stronger in availability with some suppliers while others are out buying or sold out. Santa Maria is expected to be moderate in availability throughout the week. Expect pricing to be up and down throughout the week.

CARROTS
Supplies and quality are good, and size is coming, bringing more JBO carrots to market and lower market.

CAULIFLOWER
The cauliflower market is firm. Supplies are light with most shippers. Prices will vary from shipper to shipper as some continue to be slightly better off.  Santa Maria is light in production as well. The pricing is expected to gradually rise throughout the week as demand is expected to increase.

CELERY
The celery market is steady. There is a gap in pricing up to four dollars in the marketplace. Many shippers are finishing up in Oxnard and Salinas will be the main growing region for this commodity. Oxnard should officially be done by the second week in July. Santa Maria is in production as well.   Michigan celery is not due to start until the second week of July. Small sizing, 36s and smaller continues to demand a higher price.

CITRUS
Lemons: Supplies are good on the smaller sizes and less abundant on the larger ones. Seasonal demand is good, keeping market firming weekly. Quality is good.
Oranges: The Valencia oranges are fresh, in good condition and are eating well. Valencia sizing is currently peaking on113’s/88’s/138’s.
Limes:  Supplies and condition is good on all sizes.

CUCUMBERS
Western Cucumber: Market is steady. Supplies’ lightening up as demand has increased. Cucumbers are mostly from Baja California other from Thermal.
Eastern Cucumbers: Georgia now has good volume on cucumbers and Plant City still has finished up.  The market is on the floor this week and should remain so for the front part of the week.

EGGPLANT
Western Eggplant: Market is clicking up as demand slightly exceeds current supplies. There is a wide range of quality and lighter supplies due to impending transitions and awaiting new lots to come online.  Some new districts have begun harvesting, supplies are light.
Eastern Eggplant: Eggplant volume is minimal.  Florida is finished and rain in Georgia had delayed picking last week, making this the tightest item on the market now.  It should loosen up by the end of the week.

GRAPES
Offshore fruit is cleaned up.  Coachella domestic fruit is available with very good quality on both Flames and Sugarones.  Mexican grapes loading in Nogales, AZ are also going strong with excellent quality Sugarones and Flames as well.  There is good promotable volume and quality in both areas.  Demand is light.

GREEN ONIONS
The green onion market hasn’t changed from the past couple of weeks. Supplies continue to be good out of Mexico. Prices are expected to be steady throughout the week. Domestic green onions are due to start approximately by the end of June.

LEAF LETTUCE
The romaine market is firm with most shippers. Supplies are light to moderate, but demand is off. With any kind of push, this market could be active again quickly. All other leaf items are firm as well.   In general, the quality has been good, with only occasional tip burn being reported. This market continues to be competitive with most suppliers.

LETTUCE
This market is steady. There continues to be a planting gap with a few suppliers and this has caused a gap in pricing by a few dollars pending on the shipper.  Expect this market to have this kind of gap throughout the week. There continues to be issues of quality problems. These issues include mechanical damage, light weights, and some slight decay in some lots. Santa Maria has light production with production coming mainly out of the Salinas valley. 

MELONS
Cantaloupe:  Domestic cantaloupes are available in Southern California and Central Arizona.  The market price is firm.  Good demand still with very good quality fruit.  Cantaloupe sizing has evened out with a range of 9’s to 18’s being available.  Huron, CA has started in a light way with just fair quality.  There will be several more shippers starting next week with good volume by the second week of July on Westside fruit.
Honeydew:  Mexican dews continue to cross in good volume through Nogales while domestic dews are available with steadily increasing volume.  Demand is light and supplies have started to increase slowly with the domestic honeydews coming onto the scene.  The market is still depressed.

ONIONS
California and New Mexico yellows are steady on all sizes.  New Mexico still has better yellow availability.  Central California is heavier to jumbo and medium yellows and light on Supers while New Mexico yellows are peaking on jumbos and larger.  Reds are steady in both areas but most packers will flex for volume orders of jumbos.  Whites are steady in both districts.  The quality has been good on all colors.

POTATOES
Idaho is steady to slightly higher on cartons.  The size availability has varied widely by supplier and the lot.  Low pack-out percentages are still the main reason that the market is at the level it is.  Good quality storage lots are becoming harder and harder to find in Idaho.  Washington & Colorado are steady to slightly higher as well.  Colorado is also having some issues with storage quality.  Idaho continues to produce more 80-count and smaller while Washington and Colorado are heavier to 70’s and larger. The Bakersfield, California potato shippers have started packing russets.  Bakersfield also continues to pack reds, gold’s, and whites.  The size is slowly getting larger but there are still a lot of B-size spuds. The California colored potato availability is generally now that they have started packing russets.  Arizona is packing a few Reds and Gold’s but the availability is low due to strong demand there too.  The California and Arizona quality has been good.

SQUASH
Western Squash: Market continues unsettled on both Italian and Yellow S/N. Production has started in earnest with wide range of quality.  Light supplies of yellow s/n squash causing market to inch up as demand pressures pricing.  New districts starting up in Southern California.
Eastern Squash: Squash in Georgia has tightened up considerably in the last day or so, particularly in the yellow varieties.  There has also been quality issues lately related to the tropical system that moved through the growing regions of Georgia over the weekend.

STONE FRUIT
The California stone fruit season is in full swing with plenty of good quality product. Peaches, Nectarines and Apricot volume are steady with good supplies and good eating quality.  Brix are high and fruit is eating really well.  Both red and black plums are available and eating very good right now on both.  California cherries cleaned up for the season. Washington cherries will be available with good volume starting next week.

TOMATOES
Western: Availability continues to improve on rounds as crops transition from Mexico to California with more growers coming online. Plentiful supplies of rounds and Romas are priced competitively and reported of good quality. Prices are near the floor with larger sized fruit at a modest premium. Weather will continue with a low pressure system continuing some wind and warm weather over growing regions for the next week or so with max temperatures forecasted between 1-3 degrees below normal.
Eastern: Rain last week brought a close to the Palmetto region as Quincy in North Florida began picking this weekend. South Carolina is scheduled to begin near the middle of next week, but supplies are not expected to be vast enough to influence the market greatly. Cherry and grape tomatoes volumes are very limited commanding heavy premiums, however with more supplies in the pipeline next week, prices are expected to come back down within the next 5-7 days. Weather is expected to show more of the same with temperatures ranging between 80’s and 90’s with possible showers Sunday to Tuesday.

WATERMELON
Market settling availability is improving.  Larger fruit is light due to cool evenings. Demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. There are new growing districts coming online in Yuma and Phoenix, AZ. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic.

Commodities At-A-Glance