The Source - December 7, 2016

Washington - red delicious are steady to lower on the larger sizes with good availability, some suppliers will flex for volume. 125 size and smaller are steady to lower as well with some shippers looking to clean up non qualified CA fruit. Most red packers continue to peak on extra-fancy 88s. Larger size red delicious are definitely promotable. Golden delicious are peaking on 72/80/88s and are steady but strong due to lighter total volume in Washington. Small Goldens remain very short with very few if any 125 size or smaller. The Golden volume in Washington is less than last year. Granny-smith are mostly steady and are still peaking on 72/80/88's. 100 size and smaller Grannys are steady to higher with very light availability. There are very few if any Granny-smith 125's and smaller. Many suppliers are taking pre-book orders on Granny-smiths so even the 88's are short. The Gala market is steady on larger fruit with good availability and its steady but firm on the smaller fruit with lighter supplies. Galas are peaking on 80/88/100/72s and some suppliers will flex for volume on the larger sizes. Honeycrisp are steady but the demand still exceeds the supplies on all sizes. Honeycrisp are peaking on 80/88/100s. Fuji's are steady on the small fruit with only light supplies. Fuji 88 and larger supplies are good with better availability in all grades and some price-flex. The quality for red delicious, golden delicious, granny-smith, Galas, Fujis, and Honey Crisp has been good. Braeburns, Jonagolds, Red Romes, Cameos, and the other varietals are available in limited numbers.
Idaho---red delicious, Granny-smith, Galas, Fuji's, Red Romes, Pink lady's, and Braeburns are all fairly steady although some are lower. The volume for most is light with a peak on 64-100s for most varieties. The markets are all being quoted as steady with some dealing on various sizes.
Michigan--Macintosh, Golden delicious, Jonamacs, Jonathans, Cortlands, Empires, red Romes, and Fujis are all fairly steady. Galas and red delicious are steady on the larger sizes and up slightly on the smaller sizes. Galas, Red Romes, Jonathans, and Cortlands are all still heavier to the smaller sizes while the Golden delicious, Red delicious, Fujis, and Macintosh are all heavier to medium size fruit. Honeycrisp have finished for the season. The quality has been good.
New York-- McIntosh, Empires, Red delicious, Galas, Fujis, and Red Romes are all mostly steady. The sizing has been medium to small with a larger percentage of smaller fruit than other areas. The quality has been generally fair with more US#1 grade fruit showing stem-bowl russeting and more bitter pit than usual. Honeycrisp have finished for the season.

Alerts:
Small Granny-smith and Golden delicious are extremely short in Washington and most suppliers will try to sub a 100 or 113 for 125/138's in both, so plan ahead if you need volume.

Just a reminder to not forget about early January---even though school business is going to drop off soon remember that our suppliers also like to go into the holidays with clean floors so early January apple availability will be light along with a short truck situation. Plan ahead to avoid lighter product and truck crunch.

Peak Seasons:
Most varieties in most areas are in the peak of the season right now.

The weather remains unchanged in both Mexican growing regions. Volume has declined by 50% due to field transition. The market is up across the board on all sizes. Orbregon/Ensenada/fall season from Caborca are winding down as they transition into San Luis.

The weather is good in both South/North of Peru. Volume is fair and the market is up. The market has jumped due to freight rates increasing due to the holiday demand on cargo space.

Transitions:
San Luis will start in 3-5 days. Peru is transitioning from mostly boat to all air.

Mexico's shipments this week are steady with good supplies. The markets are steady for this week. But there is definitely a trend for higher markets next week due to a holiday in Mexico. Also as we ramp up supplies for the Super Bowl pool, there is talks of the markets firming up and tending higher. Quality is excellent with good oil content and an outstanding flavor profile.

Alerts:
Next week there is a Holiday in Mexico that could disrupt supplies crossing the border mid week.

Green bell pepper is heavy supply peaking on mostly Large to Extra Large sizes. Very good quality color and sizing. Harvest is in both Southern California ( Coachella Valley) and Northern Mexico (crossing in Nogales)

Red and yellow bell pepper are also coming from Southern California (Coachella Valley) and Northern Mexico. Good supply on red and very limited offering on yellow. Quality is mostly good with both blocky and elongated varieties being packed.

Supplies of blackberries have increased over the past week out of Mexico while domestic production remains tight. Cold temperatures in California have slowed production. Quality has improved since it hasn't rained lately. The market is lower to steady.

Supplies continue to be steady from South America and Mexico. Vessels are arriving with new crop blueberries. Delays at the ports can hamper shipping times. Quality is being reported as good from all areas with the new crop taking the edge. The market is steady with a hint of weakness as volumes increase.

Raspberry supplies remain limited from all growing areas. Cooler weather has kept growth down in all areas. Central Mexico is past it's peak harvest and is declining in volume. Quality continues to be good. The market is steady.

Demand remains very good for strawberries. Supplies have increased in all areas causing some weakness to appear. Quality has improved from all areas since we have not had any rains lately. Cold temperatures especially in California have been keeping them firm and slow to grow. Stem strawberries are not available anywhere and won't be for several weeks. The market is lower to steady with an overall weakness in it.

The story here is optimal growing conditions from all growing regions. Supplies remain plentiful of bunched and crowns. Thus it has kept the market competitive. Quality has been really nice with a few occasions of yellowing, dehydration, and bracketing. Which is a branchiness to the stalk of the broccoli. This should remain the trend into next week.

Quality is the topic of discussion for brussel sprouts, as product from Mexico is having arrival issues of black spotting to decay of the sprouts. The product from California has excellent quality with all sizes available. The market is steady and should trend that way into next week.

There continues to be plenty of supplies of carrots. A full size profile is available from Jumbos, to Cellos, to Baby Peeled, to Processed carrots as well. The market are also steady with overall demand being steady too. Quality has been excellent with minimal arrival issues.

The cauliflower market continues to be active. There are limited supplies as we enter a supply gap with colder temperatures directly related to this gap. Quality has been suspect with creamy to yellow color, bruising, and decay upon arrivals. Switching to smaller sizes such as 16 count are the trend with suppliers. This will continue for the next two weeks.

Alerts:
Limited supplies from all growing regions that has created a volatile market.

The celery market is steady. Demand is flat. Good supplies and moderate demand is expected for the rest of this week, minimum. A few shippers have hinted supplies will be tighter next week, but this awaits to be seen. The best availability continues on large sizing, twenty-four counts in particular. Expect good quality out of the Oxnard area for the next two weeks, minimum.

We continue to have good availability of air delivery Chilean cherries on both east and west coasts. Although we have seen some lower prices on the east coast, the overall market has remained fairly consistent. Quality is being reported as fair with occasion light color and pitting. The first vessel of container fruit is expected to land next week. Once this fruit becomes available, we can expect market prices to drop quickly. The predominant variety will be Bing and quality is expected to remain consistent. Supplies are anticipated to last through mid January.

Pablano - Good quality and condition with improved supply.

Tomatillo- good supply and quality on fresh crop, both peeled and husked. Sizing is good. Color and condition are excellent.

Jalapeno- good quality on new crop pepper, mostly large sizing with good color and excellent size.

Anaheim- good quality and condition and size are expected to continue as supply improves.

there continues to be abundant supplies from both growing regions. Quality has been sporadic with a few arrivals with yellowing and some black leaves. But overall quality is really good with little dehydration and full bunches. Look for this to trend into next week.

The lemon market is steady with good supplies and good demand in all districts. The desert region is running at full production and can be loaded out of Yuma, Coachella or Oxnard. Sizing is peaking on the larger size profiles but volumes on all are adequate to meet current demand. The Central San Joaquin harvest is still minimal with better numbers projected for the first of the year. The rain projected for the San Joaquin Valley this week will have minimal impact on the market as volumes there are limited. Meyer lemons are available from all districts as well. The market on these is steady.

The lime market is steady right now on the larger sizes with some growers asking more. The market on the smaller sizes from 200's to 250's is higher. The rising market is due to lower volume caused by the new crop harvest being in the larger size profile. New crop limes are supplying the market and quality is very nice. No adverse weather is being reported for the near future so we should experience normal market fluctuations as we come in and out of holiday demand and export shipments to other countries.

The Navel Orange market is steady with good demand and good supplies. Quality is good in all regions with the harvest running heavily to the fancy grade. Sizing is mostly large with all areas peaking on 88/ 72's. Rain is predicted for the San Joaquin Valley the end of this week. Most shippers are working out of bins from storage so the immediate effects from this rain should be minimal. Longer range we may see supplies affected somewhat as shippers will not be able to harvest for several days after the weather clears. The Blood orange harvest has been delayed as the fruit needs more cold weather to color up properly. Cara Cara's are running now in limited quantities.

Alerts:
Projected rain in the San Joaquin Valley this week should have limited impact on supplies.

Good supply on cucumber coming out Mexico, Excellent color, quality and condition on all grades sizes and pack styles. Supply will continue to be good as we move into the month.Northern Mexico (Sonora) will continue and (Sinaloa) will start next week. Euro cucumber is also available in very good supply, both #1and #2 both single layer and bushel boxes.

As we move into the Nogales season. Quality and condition on eggplant will continue to be very good on #1 product, excellent supply will continue for the beginning of the season.

California green grapes continue to be a struggle. Availability is very limited and quality continues to worsen. Shippers are repacking the remaining storage inventories to eliminate as much of the problem fruit as possible, but we continue to get reports of wet soft berries, decay and mold. Market prices jumped up again this week due to the limited availability of clean product and the additional labor involved in repacking. This will continue to be the case for the next week until Chilean product arrives.

The first vessel of Chilean green grapes is expected to arrive late next week on the west coast. This product should be available to load starting the week of December 19th. Quality is expected to be good. Although the first arrival will be limited volume, we do expect supplies to improve as we move forward. This will bring some relief to the current green grape supply situation on the west coast, but market prices are expected to be in line with current Peruvian fruit until volumes increase.

Peruvian green grapes continue to be in good supplies on the east coast. Quality is being reported as strong. Market prices have been very firm. However, as Chilean fruit arrives and we see an overlap in supplies, we can expect the markets to adjust down.

Transitions:
Chilean green grapes expected to be available on the west coast December 19th.

This week we continue to have excellent availability of Californian red grapes with spot buy opportunities being offered. Overall quality has been strong. We have seen occasional issues being reported on soft berries and light mold, but complaints have been sporadic. Shippers are aware of these concerns and many are starting to repack their remaining inventory to ensure a higher quality pack. As we move into next week, we can expect the majority of the aggressive deals to be off the table and prices will start to firm up. Supplies will continue to be good as we transition into import grapes.

The first arrival of Chilean red grapes is scheduled to land on the west coast earlier than expected. The first vessel is anticipated to arrive by the end of next week. This fruit will be available to load the week of December 19th. However, initial volumes will be light and market prices are expected to be high. Volume will ramp up as we move toward the end of the month.

Peruvian red grapes have been available on the east coast for the last couple weeks. Volume has been consistent and quality has been excellent. Market prices have remained firm. Supplies are expected to remain steady with an overlap of Chilean product arriving on the east coast this month.

Transitions:
Chilean red grapes will be available to load on the west coast the week of December 19th.

Mexico continues to provide plenty of supplies of iced and iceless green onions. Quality has been really good with little yellowing or browning of the tops. As we approach the Christmas pull there could be a shortage of labor and this will create a market and shortage of supplies.

Alerts:
As we approach the Christmas and New Year holiday, labor becomes an issue which will cause a shortage of supplies and trend the market higher.

Kale supplies are abundant from all growing regions. The market is not showing any signs of trending higher well into next week. Quality has been excellent with dark green color, little dehydration, and full cartons.

This market has reacted upward with multiple suppliers. There are quality issues worth noting. These issues include Pink rib, russet spotting, misshapen heads, mechanical and seeder. These defects are industry wide. Cool weather has hurt the quality as well as the growth time. Temperatures currently are not at freezing points, but is in the near future. Expect a gap in production in the next two to three weeks. The imperial valley is expected to begin production in a week or two.

Alerts:
A gap is coming in the next few weeks for this commodity. Weather will play a major factor.

Transitions:
Imperial valley will begin production in a week or two.

The leaf and romaine markets are showing signs in a week or two of reacting upward. For now, shippers are content to keep pricing stable. Defects continue to be reported by multiple suppliers. These defects include burn, twist, seeder, pink rib and russet spotting. Some shippers have bypassed acreage do to excessive amounts of defects. Still the demand is moderate at best. Suppliers are looking to keep movement going. There continues to be signs of a production gap in 2-3 weeks. Cooler temperatures are expected in Yuma in the next three- four weeks.

Alerts:
Future expected low temperatures are expected in the growing regions of Yuma as well as Southern California. Supplies look to tighten up.

Demand is good on all sizes. Supplies on 9ct are increasing due to offshore arrivals and the price of them is declining. 12's continue to get increased demand due to substitution for 9ct. The 15ct are also experiencing some added buying pressure and are very short in supply from offshore sources causing a steady market. The desert finished packing for the season yesterday. Offshore supplies in Florida and are in full swing. Arrivals in California are steadily increasing in volume. The market is steady to lower on all sizes due mainly to increased supplies. The quality is excellent on the offshore melons.

Alerts:
Supplies of larger sized lopes are increasing causing weakness in the market.

Transitions:
The desert finished yesterday.

Supplies of honeydews are steady overall and we can continue to expect adequate supplies and good quality to be the pattern for a while longer with a moderate range of up and down movement. The desert growers finished packing yesterday. Mexico is exporting very nice looking honeydews up to us and pricing them much lower than offshore and domestic dews. Offshore dews have excellent quality and are peaking on large sizes such as 5's and 6's with very few 8's coming in. The market is currently steady on all sizes.

The current availability is improving with better sizing and offering fresh Product from Northern Mexico crossing in Nogales Az. All sizes being offered in load volume both bins and cartons, peaking on larger fruit 36/45 with brix exceeding 10%.Volume will continue to improve. Demand has dropped due to cooler weather across the country.

Idaho - Market is slightly higher than last week on most sizes and colors due to slightly better demand. Supplies are good. Demand is good on all colors of jumbos. All other sizes have moderate to light demand. Quality is very nice. The Christmas and New Year holidays are right around the corner. This is a good time to stay ahead of your inventories as transportation, weather and short holiday weeks could interrupt supplies. Look for the market to stay fairly steady at current levels.

Washington - Market is steady on all sizes of Yellow onions with moderate to light demand. The Red onion market has firmed slightly with better demand. Quality is good.

Washington - C.A. Bartlett pears are steady and still peaking on US#1 70/80/90s. Some shippers will price-flex for volume of the larger sizes. 110 size and smaller bartletts are limited. D'anjou pears are also steady and they are still peaking on US#1 80/90/100s. Some shippers will flex on volume orders of the larger sizes. 110 size D'anjou pears and smaller are limited. Bosc pears are steady and continue to peak on US#1 80/90/100s. There is better volume available on smaller size Bosc. Red pears are steady and are still peaking on US#1 45/50 half cartons. The quality for all varieties pears has been good.

Alerts:
Small Bartlett and D'anjou pears remain short.

Peak Seasons:
all pears are in their peak season.

Supplies are good for all shippers with post holiday back off in demand. Look for demand to kick back up in couple of weeks as we move toward Christmas and New Years demand. Supplies from the tropics will drop off at the end of the year and the first couple of weeks of January due to lack of labor to harvest during the holidays.

Idaho - The temperatures hit the high teens today with the lows in the single digits which luckily will only last into Friday of this week. Once the temperatures hit below 20 degrees most grower/shippers cannot haul potatoes from the storages to the packing sheds or the potatoes with freeze. Some of the larger shippers do have on site storages which gives them the ability to transport their storage potatoes when the temperatures are in the teens. Temperatures need to stay below 20 degrees for a good 7days before supplies start to really get limited. Markets are steady on all size cartons and retail bags. Quality is being reported as good. Transportation will be slow going due to snow and ice.

Washington - Demand is moderate with good supplies. Markets are steady across the board. Quality is good.

Colorado/Wisconsin - Demand is light to moderate with good supplies. Markets are steady. Quality is good. Weather could become a factor limiting supplies and transportation as both growing areas are to get hit with snow and very cold temperatures this week. The snow could close the passes for the Trucks. We will keep you posted.

Alerts:
Cold temperatures hitting Idaho, Colorado and Wisconsin will slow down supplies and transportation.

Bakersfield California - the red, white, and gold potato markets are steady to lower due to lighter demand. All colors continue to peak on A size. Remember to plan ahead as this product is transferred down from Washington and the holidays will tighten up trucks. The quality has been good.
Idaho - red and gold potatoes are steady and they are peaking evenly between A & B size. The availability is fair this week because of the holiday. The quality is good.
Western Washington - reds and golds are all steady and continue to peak on A size while the whites remain limited. The quality has been good.
North Dakota - red and gold potatoes are steady to lower on all sizes and continue to peak on A size. The lower market is due to light demand. The quality has been good.
Wisconsin - reds and golds are steady to slightly lower and both are still peaking on A-size. The quality has ranged from fair to good.
Canada - reds, golds, and whites are steady on all sizes. Sacks are more available while cartons are more limited. The quality has been good.

Peak Seasons:
North Dakota, Idaho, Wisconsin, and western Washington are all in the peak of their seasons.

Supply on yellow and Italian Squash have improved from last week. Quality and condition are very good. all sizes and grades are available. all varieties of hard squash are now in good supply loading in Nogales. Cooler weather will slow production some but market will remain steady.

Limited availability of Chilean apricots and peaches have become available. A few shippers have started early harvest, but sizing is limited and market prices are high. We will see volume slowly increase next week as another vessel of Chilean fruit is expected to land. However, the first "break bulk" vessel is not expected to land on the west coast until after Christmas. Starting January, we expect to have good supplies of Chilean peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots.

Transitions:
Chilean stone fruit is expected to arrive on the west coast by the end of December.

The eastern tomato market is steady this week with ideal growing conditions allowing supplies to flourish. Northern Florida is into 2nd and 3rd picks with sizes trending smaller while Immokalee is balancing out national supply with plenty of larger fruit still available. Quality is excellent and should continue to be so as long as weather remains favorable. Roma tomatoes are increasing slightly each week as growing areas are moving further south. There is steady supply of cherry tomatoes with grape varieties even more available. We can expect markets to remain steady going into next week.

Volumes continue to be light out of Mexico will Baja and eastern mainland near the end of the season. Florida continues to be the national producer of gas green rounds while Mexico imports vine ripened rounds. Vine ripes and roma varieties are both sizing down and supply is tightening under fair demand showing little to no change in the market this week. Also relatively stable this week are grape tomatoes remaining in good supply with deals to be had for older, less desirable fruit. Cherry tomatoes remain to be mainly an East coast grown item, however light numbers are showing up from baja at the border and remain a regional item. By the end of next week, overall volumes are expected to start increasing as winter crops transition to mainland Mexico bringing new supply to the market.