The Source - April 20, 2015

New York continues to pack Empires, Red delicious, Red Romes and McIntosh as well as a few Cortlands and Fujis. Most varieties are peaking on 100's and larger. The quality has been good.
Michigan continues to pack Empires, Ida-reds, Jonagolds, Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Romes. The Red Rome's, Red Delicious, and Jonagolds are peaking on 88's and larger. The Empires, Jonathans, Ida-reds have better availability on the smaller sizes. The quality has been good.
Washington red delicious continue to produce mostly 88's and larger in the higher grades. Most packers have plenty of the Wash extra-fancy #1 and Premium 88's and larger. Small reds remain limited. 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. Honeycrisp are still available but supplies are light and the market is high and strong. Opals, Jazz, Jonagolds, Pink Lady's, and a few other varietals are still available.

This market is active. Jumbo packs from all the regions continue to be light in production and commanding a premium price. Demand exceeds supply. Mexican product will be on the light side of production for about three weeks. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on eleven pound cases. Shippers are not packing 28# 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 are the main packs from Peru.

California Growers are harvesting good volume. They are peaking on 60's and smaller. Quality and flavor are both very good.

Mexico is over 70% harvested for their season. Good supplies continue to come in, and still heavy to 60's and smaller. 48's and larger remain tight, but are showing some improvement.

Pepper supplies have picked up and the market is beginning to weaken. Quality and sizing are improving.

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 has ended and there continues to be less of this fruit in the market, quality issues present with generally tired/dated fruit showing shrivel, moisture, some mold. CA blues have been limited so far but looks to be increasing with more volume this week, mostly 4.4oz clams although some larger packs are being packed at request. 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 some on both CA and FL blues. 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 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:
STRAWBERRIES
Demand exceeds supply and looks to continue this way through Mother's Day weekend.

This market is a little softer to begin the week. Crowns will be moderate in production for this week. Suppliers are having better inventories to start the week as demand has fallen off. The best quality remains in the Salinas Valley. Santa Maria has light to moderate supplies with good quality. Production in Mexico is light to moderate. The quality in all of the growing regions is reported as being good.

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

This market is comparable to last week. Supplies are very light to start the week. Demand exceeds supply. Escalated pricing is in effect. Salinas and Santa Maria production is gapping. Expect again this week 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. A few shippers have begun the week sold out until the middle of the week at the earliest.

This market is active. 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. 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 but are priced exclusively for export; well into the triple digits. Fruit for domestic consumption will begin to be more readily available next week. Early reports on quality are conflicted. Some reports are for excellent quality for export; other shippers are quoting early fruit showing splits, doubles and small sizing. We expect quality to improve as we move further north into regions where we have had weather better suited to the cherries. Early volumes quoted are sporadic. Early estimates are for yields of 60 - 70% of normal with volume improving as we move further into the regular season.

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 beginning to drop off and peaking on 72's/56's. Demand is exceeding smaller fruit, 113's/138's. California Valencia's have started in limited volume and picking up some of the short fall of smaller fruit. Quality on Valencia's is very good, color is nice, and brix are 10.5-12.00 average.

Central Florida and South are Florida both into good volume of cucumbers and there is greater availability across the board and a softer market. With Georgia right around the corner and Nogales still plugging away, this market should stay at the lower levels for the next week or so.

Although the market remains steady, the quality of the eggplants is marginal at best. South Florida is just getting too hot and Central Florida is several days away from working eggplant. Weak demand is keeping the market down.

The green grape market is strong with limited supplies of good quality grapes available. Most receivers are limiting orders as quality issues are at the forefront. This has modified the market somewhat but we will continue to experience high prices and limited supplies well into the early Mexican and Coachella deals this May.

Supplies of good quality red seedless grapes continue to be adequate to meet current demand. Quality is good and at this point looks to remain good through the end of the Chilean deal. Mexico and Coachella are still on track for an early start; the last week of April to the first week of May.

This market is steady. Overall, supplies are moderate to light with most suppliers. With any kind of push in the marketplace, this commodity could be more active quickly. Demand overall, is on the light side on bunched product. There continues 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.

A few suppliers are having production issues to start the week, and have attempted to raise pricing. The market overall is firm. Demand is moderate at best to begin the week. Most supplies are being harvested in the Salinas Valley. The weights are ranging from 42-46 pounds with good quality. Santa Maria will have light to moderate production throughout this week. Demand will dictate where this market goes towards the end of the week. Understand that supplies overall are not heavy. If demand picks up, pricing will certainly climb quickly.

The romaine market is higher with most suppliers. Salinas continues to have good quality but availability is moderate at best. Weights on romaine are ranging from 32-36 pounds. Green and red leaf pricing is active as well. Both of these commodities are on escalated pricing. Green leaf in particular is going to be extremely light in availability for two weeks as suppliers are gapping in production. Demand exceeds supply. Open market purchases will be difficult throughout the week as suppliers cover contracts first.

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.

New Crop Southern California Onions have started today. Yellow onion crop looks to be peaking on Jumbos and Colossal with few Mediums. Reds and whites will have limited supplies till next week. Quality is being reported as good.
Georgia, Vidalia Sweet onion started today. Quality is being reported as good.
Idaho - Demand is moderate with a steady market on both yellow and red onions. Supplies are getting into fewer hands as more shippers finish for the season. Quality is still being reported as good.
Washington - Demand is moderate with a steady market on all colors. Quality is still being reported as good. Washington will finish for the season the first week of May.
Mexico - Supply and demand of Yellow, Red and White onions is moderate out of this area. Some shippers have supplies other are waiting for inbound trucks. Market is steady. Quality is being reported as good.
South Texas - Growers are still waiting on the fields to dry from the heavy rain last week. The forecast is calling for light to Moderate rain today. Quality is being reported as poor to fair. They need 4 to 5 days of dry weather before we will see them shipping again.

Washington continues to ship D'anjou pears and red pears. The D'anjous are still heavy to the larger sizes while 120's and smaller are very short. The red pears will be available through May but supplies are light.
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 continue to be in a extreme demand exceeds supply situation. This was caused by the heavy rains the middle of this last year's growing season. I do not see this changing till the end of July beginning of August when new crop starts up. 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 60 and 70ct 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. Market is active.
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. Large cartons are very limited. Market is firm. Quality is good.

Alerts:
POTATOES
Idaho, Colorado and Wisconsin - 40-60 count are in a demand exceeds supply situation.

Bakersfield, California continues to pack 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. All are limited on Premium and Baker size. The quality has been good.
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 limited and most shippers will finish this week. Whites are somewhat limited and will be finished by the middle of next week. Northern Florida will start the week of May 7th will all colors. 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.

Plant City area has ramped up and is heavily working all colors squash. Georgia is working both colors squash now and Homestead is still managing to put out some squash.

Peaches and nectarines are now available in a limited way out of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. While still available in limited numbers out of Coachella we have begun to scratch out a few of the early varieties further north. Volumes should now continue to improve with sizing continuing to run small on both nectarines and peaches. Some very early red plums have also begun to show up with limited numbers and sizes available.

Florida volumes will be harvested in fewer numbers until Palmetto/Ruskin begins picking in May when production is expected to come on strong. Rounds and romas are yielding good quality however grape and cherry varieties are improving on 2nd picks.

Mainland Mexico has begin its seasonal decline with roma and round production forecasted through may and into June. 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.