The Source - April 15, 2015

New York is packing mostly Empires, Red delicious, Red Rome's and McIntosh but they also have a few Cortland's and Fuji's. Most varieties are peaking on 100's and larger. The quality has been good.

Michigan continues to pack Empires, Ida-reds, Jonagold's, Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Rome's. The Red Rome's, Red Delicious, and Jonagolds are peaking on 88's and larger. The other have better availability on the smaller sizes. The quality has been good.

Washington red delicious are still peaking on 88's and larger in the higher grades. Most packers have plenty of Wash extra-fancy #1 and Premium 88's and larger. Small reds remain short. Golden delicious are fairly evenly sized but 125's and 138's are somewhat shorter than the other sizes. Granny-smith continue to peak on 64/72's and have very limited availability of 100's and smaller. The Fuji's are fairly steady but are peaking on the larger sizes. Gala's are also steady and peaking on 88/100's. The Gala's have better availability in the smaller sizes.

This market is stronger. Jumbo packs from all the regions continue to be light in production and commanding a premium price. Demand exceeds supply. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on both 11lb. and 28 lb. cases. Salinas and Mexico continue to be the main growing regions for this commodity. Peruvian product is available to load out of Miami direct. Standard and large sizing is the main packs from Peru.

California Growers are increasing production weekly, and supplies are improving. Maturity of fruit is good.

Mexico supplies and crossings are steady. Size still peaking on 60's; 48's and larger remain tight, but are showing some improvement.

Some quality issues being reported for soft berries, red cell and some mold especially with MX berries. Supply and quality have improved this week although some marginal fruit remains in the market. Santa Maria, CA has started with light volume and the fruit is sizing larger than MX. Some shippers have not begun with CA crops and are looking closer to mid-May.

Chilean season is winding down and the arrivals are lessening weekly. CA blues have been very limited so far but looks to be increasing with small volumes this week, mostly 4.4oz clams. FL blues are available out of Miami, Dover and Plant City. Mostly 6oz clams though some larger packs are being packed at request. Market has come off sharply on FL blues but may be heading back up by midweek of week 16. Mainland Mexican supplies have been limited by rain and cooler weather but looks to increase this week as weather has cleared. Varying levels of pricing and quality based on country/region of origin.

Raspberry volumes continue to decline out of both Central Mexico and Oxnard, CA growing regions. Santa Maria, CA volumes have increased some recently. We should begin to see Watsonville fruit by the end of April with decent volume. Some reports of soft and overripe berries. Some current seasonal varieties are darker in color, this does not mean they are overripe. This is their color profile by variety.

DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY. We are in a seasonal supply gap period after Oxnard ended most major production for fresh market last week and the Santa Maria and Salinas/Watsonville districts are not putting out enough volume yet to cover the loss of the southern region. Shippers are quoting oversold/sold out each day. Orders are being pushed into the following date and/or fill-rated from shippers daily as well. Expect volume to be limited through Mother's Day pull and lower volumes than recent years. While the northern district came on early, cooler temperatures are keeping the fruit sizing down and volume is stalled rather than increasing.

Alerts:
DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY

California desert crop is going well. Size is only fair coming out of the fields. Jumbo size remains snug.

This market is very strong. Demand exceeds supply. Salinas and Santa Maria production is very light. All suppliers are gapping in production right now. Look for production in all the growing regions to be light throughout the week. As for the quality, reports indicate all regions to have good color and sizing on this commodity. Expect pricing to be active throughout the week.

This market is stronger. Small sizing, thirty-six count in particular commands a higher price from all shippers. Fewer deals are being offered for bulk purchasing in comparison to past weeks. Large sizing continues to have the best availability. This market will likely be active for the rest of the week. Shippers are willing to load out of Salinas but a higher cost is being tacked onto the fob price so please be aware. Loading in Oxnard/ Santa Maria continues to give the best fob price.

Early cherries have started with excellent quality and very light volume. All of the early fruit is going to export and commanding extremely high prices. We can expect to see better volume around the 25'th of April with good numbers anticipated by the first week of May.

Crop is peaking on 140's and larger. 165's and smaller are tight with springtime demand picking up for these sizes.

The lime market is currently steady. Supplies are increasing on smaller sizes and decreasing slightly on larger sizes this week and for the next few weeks. The forecast of lower supplies from April through mid May will more than likely keep the market from tanking to the bottom although it will be a choppy ride. The overall quality is good on the new crop that is being harvested.

California Navel crop is in its peak eating quality. Sizing is peaking 72's/56's. Demand is exceeding smaller fruit, 113's/138's. California Valencia's should be ready toward the end of the month in limited volume.

The green grape market continues to strengthen. We are now mostly 100% storage greens with only fair quality. Prices are high and strong and will continue to be until we see good volume in the Mexican and Coachella deals. We anticipate good volume from the new growing regions the first to second week of May.

The red seedless grape market has flattened out with ample supplies and decent quality. We do not see a real change in this market for another 1-2 weeks; if at all, prior to the Mexican deal starting up.

This market is firm. Supplies are on the light side, but demand has eased up. There have been some issues with crossing the border of Mexico. These holdups have resulted in trucks arriving late by a day or two. Most of the production continues out of the Baja region of Mexico. Light supplies are being harvested in Salinas. Small and medium sizing continues to be the main packs available. Supplies will be moderate to light all week out of the Mexico growing regions.

This market has become stronger with many suppliers. Demand has increased. Production is finished in Huron. The weights are ranging from 42-46 pounds with good quality. Santa Maria will have light to moderate production throughout this week. Supplies are expected to be lighter towards the end of the week with most suppliers. The issues of fringe burn, and bug infestation does not come into play with the current lettuce in the marketplace.

The romaine market is active. Huron production is finished. Salinas continues to have strong quality but availability is moderate to light. Weights on romaine are ranging from 32-36 pounds. Green and red leaf pricing is active as well. Green leaf is actually the most active in the leaf market. Open market purchases will be difficult throughout the week as suppliers cover contracts first. Supplies will be light throughout the week with all shippers.

Cantaloupe supplies are a bit lighter than previous weeks. Demand is somewhat better than previous weeks, which is causing the market to perk up a bit. Cantaloupe 9's are in tight supply with sizes peaking on 12's and 15's. Arrivals of offshore melons on the west coast continue to arrive in limited volumes with 12's being the peak size with some 9's being available. Quality is good on all lopes.

Off shore honeydew supplies remain lighter than previous weeks. Demand is better now than earlier in the week which is causing the market to move slightly higher. The peak size is 6's on both coasts. Supplies out of Mexico are increasing now with good volume on dew 8's which is going to help generate demand for loading in Nogales. The Mexican supplies are beginning to take up the lowering volume of off shore dews. Quality has been good overall with the Mexican dews being very nice with high sugar contents too.

Idaho - Demand is moderate with a firm but steady market on both jumbo and medium yellow and red onions. The market is slightly stronger on Super & colossal yellows. Supplies are getting into fewer hands as more shippers finish for the season. The remaining shippers are trying to finish up before Southern California starts packing next week. Quality is still being reported as good.
Washington - Demand is moderate with a firm but steady market on all colors. They are in the same boat as Idaho and are trying to finish up before California gets going. Quality is still being reported as good.
Mexico - Supplies for all colors are limited due to the weather. The market is higher on jumbos and larger for all colors, mediums are steady to higher.
Vidalia, Georgia has started packing yellows and they are peaking mediums and then jumbos.
Southern California will start packing next week.

Washington continues to ship D'anjou pears and red pears. The D'anjou's are still heavy to the larger sizes while 120's and smaller are very short. The red pears are nearly finished for the season.

On the Import side we Chilean and Argentinean fruit. The Chilean fruit is cleaning up and is smaller in size. The Argentinean fruit is peaking on 100's and larger and that market is strong.

Idaho - Large cartons 40 - 50 count potatoes are in a extreme demand exceeds supply situation. This looks to be a long term situation due to the small size profile in the storage potatoes. To cover these sizes shippers are buying product from Washington and transferring them over to load in Idaho. Please allow extra time to cover orders with large size cartons. All shippers are sold out 4 to 5 days in advance for the larger counts. Demand on 70 and 60 has increased as customers are starting to drop a size or two due to the limited availability of the larger cartons. Smaller cartons 80 count and smaller have moderate availability. Quality is still good.
Washington - Demand is good on 40 -70 count potatoes with a firming market. Washington has better size in their storage potatoes than most other states. Quality is good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - Supplies are limited due to light retail demand which is making it hard for the sheds to run full days. Market is firm. Quality is good.

Bakersfield, California continues to pack new crop in all colors. They are in smaller lots of gold's, and whites so both have better availability of B-size. The reds are slightly larger and are peaking on A's. The quality has been good with minimal skinning.

South Florida is also packing all colors. The gold's and whites are heavier to B-size while the reds are heavier to A-size. Gold's are generally short in Florida and the quality has been good.

North Dakota continues to pack a few reds but is close to end of the season. They are peaking on A-size.

Idaho is still shipping a few reds and gold's but they are also close to the end of the season.

California peaches and nectarines are in with light volumes. Sizing on both is running small. Pricing on the small volume fill and tray packs is approaching promotable prices and should continue to improve over the next few weeks. Quality is being reported as good. Apricots are running a little behind the anticipated start dates but we should see some availability by the 25'th of April.

Frigid temperatures weeks back have slowed production. Strong Spring harvest are expected in early may when Ruskin gets going in new fields. Rounds and romas are yielding good quality however grape and cherry varieties are showing some spotting.

Good supply and quality on round and roma tomatoes are coming from Mainland Mexico. Growers expect production to begin the seasonal decline at the end of this month. Grape tomatoes are winding down earlier than usual for the season due to weather challenges and inconsistent quality. Baja on the other hand has started shipping grapes and is expected to begin with rounds in early May. A few Baja-area farms have started with romas, this week, but volume is expected to be light until May.