The Source - April 19, 2017

Washington - reds are steady on most sizes and they continue to peak on larger fruit. Large reds are more prevalent than the smaller sizes. Golden delicious are higher and strong due to increased demand and light supplies. The fruit is still peaking on 72/80/88s so supplies of smaller fruit are exceptionally short. Granny-smith are steady to higher on all sizes and the demand had been increasing. The fruit is still peaking on 72/80/88's so the availability of 100s and smaller is really limited! Most shippers are still subbing up in size and grade on anything smaller than a 72/80 and they will continue this to cover orders. The Gala market is steady on all sizes. Galas are still peaking on 80/88/100/72s and they have better volume in the larger sizes. Fuji's are steady to higher on all sizes and are still peaking on 72/80/88s. Fuji supplies are starting to dwindle so expect the market to remain strong. Honeycrisp are steady to higher and they continue to peak on 80/88/100s. Expect the Honeycrisp market to continue to slowly climb as the supplies get lighter and lighter every week until they finish in May. The quality has been good.
Michigan--Golden delicious are steady to higher due to increased demand and light supplies. Goldens will finish in a couple weeks. McIntosh, Galas, Jonathans, Jonagolds, and Fujis are steady to higher and the supplies for all of them are fairly light. All will finish in the next week to three weeks. Some suppliers have already finished with Fujis. Red Delicious are steady to slightly higher on all sizes due to lighter supplies and stronger demand. The quality has been good.
New York---the Empire, McIntosh, Gala, and Red Rome markets are high and strong due to extremely light supplies. All of these variety's will finish over the next couple weeks. Red delicious are steady but strong and supplies are also light but they will go into June. Most of the remaining fruit is large. The quality has been good.

Alerts:
Michigan will finish all varietal apples on or around early May.

Peak Seasons:
Michigan is still in the peak of its red delicious apple season.

Washington is still in the peak of its red delicious, golden delicious, Granny-smith, Fuji, and Gala apple seasons.

The Caborca season is finished. Baja/Obregon regions have started slowly and should be in for another 4 weeks. Market is higher due to less volume from this new region and weather remains warm. California has had some rain the last couple of days which will not affect production, but the cooler weather will slow it down. Market is up with less total asparagus in the market place. Peru is still slow to start, weather remains warm, and quality is fair at best. We should see better volume next week with new fields in production.

California continues to increase their harvest in preparation for Cinco de Mayo pulls and increased demand. Many growers have been trying to wait on size (48s and large) before increasing harvest and others are anxious to harvest to get fruit off the trees, as the bloom for next year's crop looks very promising.

Mexico continues to be the leader in volume, but their volume is lightening. Last week being a holy week, nothing was harvest from Thursday to Sunday, leaving much lighter supplies in the pipeline. Monday harvests will not cross into the states until Wednesday night at the earliest. Cinco de Mayo demand kicks in this week and next, and field pricing is increasing and expect very strong market prices next week.

Green bell Pepper has improved in supply especially on off grade large sizes. prices have dropped and will continue for the near future. larger sizes on number one grade peaking.

Colored Bells ( Red, Yellow and Orange) has had an increase in supply, both blocky and elongated varieties. Good quality and condition will continue, supply will remain better for the near future. market and demand are much easier. Packing 25# 15# and 11# units. Both number one and number two grade.

Blackberries continue to be extremely limited. Mexico's supply was hit hard with cold weather over the last week. Yields are down far below expected forecasts for this time period. Southern California is still not producing any substantial volume; leaving the industry in a severe supply shortage. Some east coast shippers are expecting an arrival of Guatemalan fruit, but exact arrival day and quality is still to be determined. Demand is high and market prices are on the rise. This will continue to be the case until we see some relief with Salinas and Watsonville harvest; scheduled to start mid to late May. Santa Maria should increase production over the next 3-5 weeks. Central California will start late May.

Alerts:
Blackberries are extremely limited industry wide. Markets are higher.

Transitions:
Salinas/Watsonville is 3-4 weeks from starting. Central California will start late May.

Blueberry supplies continue to improve. Central California is preparing for a big increase in production starting at the end of April. Harvest has started with light numbers this week, but the majority of volume will come on as we start May. We expect to see excellent availability, good quality and promotional opportunities by the Mother's Day pull period. Georgia production continues to be steady. We are not seeing tremendous volumes due to the early freeze losses, but we are seeing consistent volume of good quality fruit. Market prices are lower. Florida is also producing consistent volume of good quality fruit. Again markets are lower and promotional opportunities are available. Mexico will begin to slow production and downtrend as we move into May. Salinas / Watsonville will get started in 3-5 weeks.

Transitions:
Central California production is expected to ramp up at the end of the month with good volumes expected by May.

Raspberry supplies have been consistent. We have not seen heavy volumes, but order fulfillment has not been a problem. Mexico continues to be the primary supplier. California harvest has been light, but is expected to increase over the next 2-4 weeks as Salinas/Watsonville start. Quality has been excellent and demand remains strong. Market prices have been steady and will continue to stay firm until production increases in the California growing regions.

Transitions:
California production continues to be light, but will increase as Salinas and Watsonville start harvest in May.

Strawberry production is on the rise. Volume is expected to increase significantly over the next week in Santa Maria and Oxnard. With the light rains behind us, the rest of this week looks to be ideal growing conditions. Forecasts are calling for highs in the mid 70's and lows in the mid 50's with plenty of sunshine. Quality in both regions will be strong, but Santa Maria is reporting larger sizes this week (12-14 count). Oxnard fruit is a little smaller (18-22 count). With the increased volume, we have seen markets start to drop rather quickly. We will have aggressive spot buy opportunities and plenty of promotional volume. Salinas and Watsonville were hit harder with rain over the weekend and the front part of this week. Production was slower to get started, but the remainder of the week looks to be cool and dry. Again, production is expected to increase moving forward. Market prices in Salinas have been slightly higher, but are falling in line with the southern regions.

Transitions:
Salinas is slowly improving production. We will continue to see better volume over the next 2-3 weeks.

Peak Seasons:
Santa Maria is entering into peak season and production is expected to greatly increase over the next 2-3 weeks.

The broccoli market has finally found relief. We have seen better supplies out of Santa Maria, Salinas, and Mexico. The market will be trending lower as we finish the week. Quality has improved with less yellowing and bigger crown size. We will see this type of supply and market situation into next week.

Alerts:
We have seen an increase supplies form all growing regions causing a downward trend to the market.

The brussel sprout market is trending higher due to decreased supplies coming from Mexico. The growing region has experienced hot temperatures which in turn has hurt the quality. Shippers have been trying to sort through as they harvest but we have seen poor quality upon arrivals. We have seen yellow to black discoloration, worm presence, and decreased size. We will see this trend well into next week.

Alerts:
We have an active market due to decreased supply and quality issues from the Mexican growing region.

Carrot supplies of jumbo, cello and value added product are very good and look continue to be so for a while.

The cauliflower market continues to roll on at extremely high prices. Supplies remain extremely short. The overall quality is good despite market conditions. We are seeing decent white color with limited yellowing and bruising. We are still 3 weeks away from better supplies and relief in the market.

Alerts:
The cauliflower market is still extremely active at current levels. The supply outlook is still bleak as we are still 3 weeks away from supplies increasing.

The celery market continues to gain strength. The Southern California region, specifically Oxnard and Santa Maria has been forced to produce more product to meet demand. Expect this market to continue to gain strength throughout the week. Early forecasts show production in Salinas will begin in June. There have been some light issues like seeder, bowing, pith and insects. Most seizing is available with eighteen counts being the lightest in availability. Supplies were expected to be better after the holidays, but demand has been much stronger than what was predicted.

Pablano - Excellent size and Quality will continue with improved supply.

Tomatillo-Much lighter supply and just fair quality, both peeled and husked. Sizing is only fair. Color and condition will continue to be only fair.

Jalapeno- good quality on new crop pepper, Excellent Size color and condition with huge supplies. Many number 2s are being shipped.

Anaheim- good quality, condition and size are expected to continue as supply have improved

The main factor here is supplies from growing regions. Mexico is trying to ramp up volume with increased supplies from Baja. But with Yuma finishing and Salinas Valley not ready, it has put pressure on not only Mexico, but Santa Maria & Oxnard to fill the void. The has caused an upward trend in the market. Quality overall is good with little issues upon arrival. But we will continue to see the sporadic yellow to brown leaves in the bunches.

Size growth to the lemon groves in California have left good volume of large size fruit 115s/95s/75s and very limit supplies small fruit 140s/165s/200s. All shippers have reached demand demand exceed situation on small fruit 140s/165s/200s that will last through the summer.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supplies on 140s and smaller, all grades.

Limes continue to peak on smaller sizes such as 230's and 250's while the larger sizes remain snug . New crops limes have taken over production and are smaller in size. We have begun to see a slow but steady evening out of the size profile as volume picks up. Quality has been excellent on the limes over the past several weeks and looks to keep this trend. Weather overall has been very cooperative which will promote good growth and quality. We are in April now and prices have been softening up rather than being traditionally high and volatile. The market is currently steady with the smaller sizes being lower.

There is still good export and domestic demand is increasing. Many of the smaller shippers will be done with Navels by May, and others are looking to finish by mid May. Rains first part of the week halted harvest, and set back availability of an already limited supply of fruit. Size growth of the fruit has brought peak sizing up to 72/56 and the smaller sizes of 88s/113s/138s are extremely limited and we see the demand greatly outpace supply for all 88s/113s/ 138s of both fancy and choice grades. We are seeing a limited amount of Valencia oranges starting this week, but now volume until the end of the month to first part of May.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply on 88s/113s/138s both grades.

Improved supply on cucumber coming out of Mexico, Excellent color, quality and condition on all grades, sizes and pack styles. Supply will improve for the next week.Euro cucumber is also available with very heavy supply, #1and #2 both single layer and bushel boxes.

Good quality and condition with good size are currently being shipped from Nogales, mostly 18 count followed by 24 count are available as volume drops slightly. Many number 2s being shipped showing some scarring and occasional internal discoloration.

Green grapes have found a plateau here at the high prices we are currently paying. Supplies are steady at the lighter volumes and demand has leveled. Problems continue to surface on a majority of the newly arriving grapes ranging from decay to nesting which has created a short and high market. Storage grapes are also showing some signs of quality problems which is causing shippers to re-pack lots that are unacceptable. Promotable volumes are not available right now on green grapes. The market is steady at the current high levels.

Transitions:
Mexico and the desert are set to start around the first and second week of May.

Red grapes are in a steady market with a few deals being made due to slightly less demand. Schools had been on their spring breaks and are nearly all back in session. Crimsons and some of the other red varieties are very nice and are definitely worth loading. Lower quality grapes have nearly all been shipped out. Growing conditions are good for producing high quality grapes and supplies are building gradually. The market is steady to lower here.

Transitions:
Mexico and the desert are set to start around the first and second week of May.

We continue to see steady supplies from Mexico. The market though has edged up a little with some increased demand. We have seen some quality issues with thrip damage and yellow to brown discoloration. But it looks to clean up this week.

The kale market varies depending on growing and loading region. Supplies are better out of Oxnard and Santa Maria versus Salinas. Salinas has seen its share of rain the past two days limiting harvesting. Salinas is commanding a higher price due to the shortage of supplies. Quality is very nice with minimal yellowing or dehydration.

Demand continues to exceed supplies.The Easter pull is over and with activity being strong to begin the week, it is clear business was strong overall across the nation. Yuma is finished. Salinas production is stronger but cannot keep up with demand. Huron will finish up this week with production. The overall quality has been reported as fair with some mechanical damage, pink ribbing, growth cracks, insect damage and brittle. Santa Maria is moderate to light. Shippers continue to struggle to meet contract demands. The weights are being reported between 38-44 pounds for palletized. This market will continue to be active throughout this week.

Romaine and all leaf items has ramped up production in Salinas. Demand exceeds supplies however and this will continue throughout the week. The weights are showing 33-36 pounds with 10-13 inches in length on the romaine. Romaine hearts continue to be extremely limited in production. Green leaf supplies are very limited as well and this will continue all week in all growing regions. Escalated pricing is in effect on contract as well as value added items. Common defects that are seen on leaf items include seeders, discoloration, and mechanical damage on production in Huron. Santa Maria will be limited in production this week.

Cantaloupes are on a sideways cruise here at the present time. If demand picks up much we could very well see an uptick in the market here this week. Quality continues to be 95% excellent with a few problems such as softness showing up. We are peaking on 9's and 12's. The weather has been ideal for growing in all regions and this trend looks to continue. The market is steady for now.

Honeydews are going sideways. The overall supplies are adequate and look to remain so for the rest of the offshore season. Quality has been very nice with almost 99% of them arriving in excellent condition. Weather is ideal for growing honeydews and looks to be ideal for the remainder of the season. Larger sizes such as 5's and 6's are more available than smaller 8's. The market is steady.

Transitions:
Mexico growers are starting to ship more honeydews this week. The desert is set to start in the second week of May.

Quality and condition are only fair on conventional seedless. Personal seedless are available in limited supply peaking on smaller sizes. Sonora spring crop has started and volume is very limited on large fruit but will improve by the end of the month. Sugar is only fair but will improve as weather continues to warm. Good demand on larger fruit. mostly bins available and cartons being packed to order.

Yellow onion market is active out of all areas, as Idaho winds down for the season putting extra demand into Texas and Washington. Idaho is down to only a few shippers which will finish up the first week of May. Quality is still holding up nicely. Washington shippers will start to finish up the middle of May. Quality is good. Washington is still has good supplies of Red onions. Texas supplies are building. Southern California just started up in a light way with yellows onions, reds and whites to follow by the start of next week. Quality is being reported as good. Markets will start to settle as California supplies build over the next 10 days.

Transitions:
Southern California just started this week. Texas supplies building. Idaho winding down quickly.

Washington -- D'anjou pears are still peaking on US#1 80/90/100s so the smaller sizes are limited. The D'anjou market is steady and the quality has been good. Bosc pears are finished for the season. Red pears are steady and they are still peaking on US#1 50-size half cartons but supplies are very light. The quality has been good.

Chile - Argentinian Bartletts are steady and they remain heavy to larger fruit with 100-size and larger only. Chilean Packhams are steady and they are heavier to larger fruit but all sizes are available on the west coast. Chilean Forelles are steady and they are still peaking on smaller fruit. The quality for all has been good.

Transitions:
Washington will finish shipping red pears in 2-4 weeks.

Peak Seasons:
Washington is still in the peak of its D'anjou season.

Chile is in the peak of its Packham season.

Supplies remain light, but we are still projected to start to see better supplies return by the first part of May.

Carton potato market is fairly stable out of Idaho and Washington with moderate demand. Moderate demand and lighter supplies has Colorado and Wisconsin markets are firming slightly. Light demand on retail bags following the Easter holiday is limiting some run times at some sheds. Quality out of all growing areas is still good.

Bakersfield California -- new-crop golds, whites, and reds are steady on all sizes and all are peaking on A size. C size whites and golds remain short. The quality is good. There is still some old-crop reds and golds around and they are priced slightly lower than the new-crop.
Idaho - old-crop red and gold potatoes are steady to lower and most suppliers are flexing to compete with other areas. We will lose one supplier next week and will be down to one. The quality is holding well.
North Dakota - old-crop red and gold potatoes are steady to slightly lower and both continue to peak on A size. Most shippers will flex to compete with other areas. The quality has been good.
Florida - reds, whites, and golds are all peaking on A size and all are producing mostly #1 product. Red B size are very short right now as are number-twos are in all colors. Expect south Florida to finish up over the next week to three weeks. The quality has been good.
Canada - a few old-crop reds, golds, and whites remain but the availability is fairly light. The quality has been poor to good.

Alerts:
South Florida is very short on B size red potatoes especially number-twos.

Transitions:
North Florida will start packing light volume in the next week to two weeks.

Bakersfield, California is getting started with its own crop of red, gold, and white potatoes.

Yellow Squash and Italian Squash has transitioned to Sonora. The Quality has improve and supply has improved. sizing is mostly medium followed by fancy and xfancy with some W/B being offered. Hard Squash is still being offered in good supply on Butternut followed by Spaghetti and Acorn. Very limited supply of Kabocha.

The import stone fruit season is coming to a close or has closed. Imported Peaches are done for the season. Imported Nectarines are finished. Imported plums will arrive through April. Weather in California's San Joaquin Valley has been positive for good production. The wet winter and plenty of cold nights has growers expecting a great CA stone fruit season. The current market on imported stone fruit is steady.

Transitions:
The start dates listed below are tentative but we are only days away!!

Apricot: 4/19 - 5/1
Yellow Peach: 4/22 – 4/25
Yellow Nectarine: 4/20 - 4/25
White Peach: 4/16 - 4/22
White Nectarine: 5/4 – 5/9
Black Plum: 5/10 - 5/17
Red Plum: 5/11 - 5/21
Cherry’s: 4/26 – 5/5

Dry and hot weather conditions in Florida are bringing out the fruit on new crops in Ruskin/Palmetto districts this week curbing the supply shortage experienced over Holy Week. Better supply means easier markets and quality is good at this time. Gas green tomatoes are steady to lower next week. Roma tomatoes are also steady with a majority of supply coming from Mexico crossing Arizona and Texas boarders. Cherry and grape tomato varieties are in better supply trending lower by a few dollars this week. Supply is steady and there are no immediate weather concerns in the forecast to cause a sudden reaction in the market, however if the heat is persistent over the next few weeks, Florida may finish a week or so earlier than expected before South Carolina can get started in mid June.

Mexico supplies have finished out of Culiacan and made the transition to new fields in Obregon where supplies of roma tomatoes crossing into the US continue to be plentiful. While roma tomatoes continue to be heavily produced, fewer rounds and grape tomato varieties are harvested in this region and prices have the potential to lift from the price floor if demand increases. Further north to the coast, San Diego has began production of romas in a small way and producing grape tomatoes in good volume helping overall supply in the western marketplace. By next week more rounds and romas are expected to be available out of the southern California until the Valley can begin in early July and markets are steady at this time.