The Source - April 27, 2015

New York continues to pack Empires, Red delicious, Red Romes and McIntosh. Some suppliers have also packed a few Cameos and Fujis. Most varieties are still 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 Romes, Red Delicious, and Jonagolds continue to peak on 88's and larger. The Empires, Jonathans, Ida-reds have better availability on 100's and smaller. The quality has been good.
Washington red delicious are peaking 88's and larger in the higher grades. Most packers have plenty of the Wash extra-fancy #1 and Premium 88's and larger and will discount for volume. Small reds remain relatively short. Golden delicious are steady on all sizes. The goldens remain 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 Fujis are fairly steady but are peaking on the larger sizes. Galas are also steady and peaking on 88/100's. The Galas 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 steady, overall. This market will likely be active by the end of the week. Jumbo packs from all the regions continue to be light in production and commanding a premium price. Demand exceeds supply on this size. Mexican product will be on the light side of production for about two 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.

Some quality issues being reported for soft berries, red cell and some mold especially with MX berries. Supply is still light with good demand. 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.

Blueberries are coming out of Florida, Georgia, Mexico and California. The Chilean season is done. 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.

Strawberries are going to be extremely changeling for the next 7 to 10 days. The strawberry growing areas received light to moderate rain over the weekend. Anywhere from a .25 inch to over a .50 inch of rain. We need the rain, so this is a good thing except the Mother Day pull starts this week which is the biggest foodservice pull of the year for Strawberries. Quality issues that you will start to see showing up in the packs will be bruising, water damage, light decay, mold, white shoulders and green tips. These issues will be showing up in even the best of labels. It will unfortunately take 7 to 10 days for the plants to recovery from this rain. This is playing out to be the worst possible scenario for the Mothers day pull. I would advise that you pull only what you will need for your orders as the fruit will not hold up like you are use too. We will make every effort to cover your orders. Trucks will be held up at the cooler and could be moved at the last minute due to availability. Get ready to hold on for the wild ride.

Alerts:
Strawberries - Rain in the growing areas will limit availability for the next 7-10 days

This market is active with most shippers. Crowns have much better availability than bunched product. The problems with bunched product include branchy and knuckling of the product. Expect these qualities throughout the week on this commodity. Crowns are not having the same issues. Better offers are seen in the marketplace on crowns compared to bunched product. Santa Maria has light to moderate supplies. Production in Mexico is light to moderate as well.

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

This market is still active. Escalated pricing continues to be in effect. Discoloration, yellowing is the biggest issue at this time. Supplies are expected to be light for the rest of the week from all suppliers on this commodity. Demand exceeds supply. Salinas and Santa Maria production is gapping for another week to two at a minimum.

This market is active with most suppliers. Large sizing has caught up in production with small sizing. There are not many offers from any supplier at this time. 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. Florida is very light in production for the entire week.

Volume is picking up on the early variety cherries shipping out of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Early reports on quality are showing fair to good with the better fruit going all to export. We are moving into the Fresno - Visalia region later this week where better supplies should be available. Quality is yet to be determined as the region was recently hit with rain. Growers are still evaluating the fruit for damage.

Size curve is switching, crop is peaking on 140's and smaller. Lack of size growth, is lighting the supplies on 115's and larger fruit. Demand is very good on all sizes with springtime demand.

The lime market is coming down on the smaller sizes while the larger sizes are holding pretty steady. Supplies are increasing on smaller sizes and decreasing slightly on larger sizes for the next few weeks. The forecast of lower overall 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 supplies on smaller fruit, 113's/138's. California Valencia's have started in limited volume, but is 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.

The market on the green seedless grapes continues to be limited to the end of season storage grapes out of Chile. Quality is only fair and volume is very light. We have started some early greens out of Coachella but with such limited volume as to have no effect on the current market. Quality on the first domestic grapes is excellent.

The market on the red seedless grapes out of Chile is splitting on price due to sizing. Quality is good but supplies are now heavy to the medium large fruit with availability more limited on the larger grapes. This has resulted in a premium being paid on the large to extra large grapes. With the Mexican flames due to start in the next 2 weeks we see this as a temporary situation.

This market is softer. Overall, supplies are stronger with many suppliers. Demand is on the light side on bunched product. The issues of crossing Mexico border is not as bad as past weeks. 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.

The market is active with all suppliers. Many shippers are sold out due to rains in the Salinas Valley over the weekend. Demand is up. Most supplies are being harvested in the Salinas Valley. The weights are ranging from 40-44 pounds. Issues include ribbing , insect damage and rusting. Santa Maria will be very light in production to begin the week. Demand is expected to be strong throughout the week for this commodity.

The romaine market has a gap in pricing depending on the shipper. Insect damage is the biggest issue at this time. Salinas' production is moderate at best. Weights on romaine are ranging from 32-36 pounds. Green and red leaf continue to be very light in availability with all suppliers. Both of these commodities are on escalated pricing. Green leaf in particular is going to be extremely light in availability all this week as suppliers continue to gap in production. Demand exceeds supply. Open market purchases will be difficult throughout the week as suppliers cover contracts first.

Cantaloupe supplies are once again lighter than previous weeks. Demand is not as brisk as last week so the market is holding steady to slightly lower. Cantaloupe sizing is now lighter on small sizes and more plentiful on larger sizes. Arrivals of offshore melons on the west coast continue to arrive in limited volumes with 9's being the peak size. Some offshore shippers are finishing up this week. The desert crop is starting this week in a small way with supplies coming slowly. Nogales is shipping lopes from Mexico with the peak size being 18's. Quality is good on all lopes.

Offshore honeydew supplies continue to remain lighter than previous weeks. Demand is less than last week so the market is steady to slightly lower. 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 offshore dews. The desert is going to start in the next few weeks with volumes coming on slowly. Quality has been good overall with the Mexican dews being very nice and having high sugar contents too. The dew 8 market is coming down while the dew 5 and 6 market is steady to lower.

Idaho - The finish line is in sight. We are down to a handful of shippers still packing. We will be down to one starting next week and they will finish up the week of May 4th. Market is steady with light demand. Quality is being reported as good.
Washington - Is also getting close to finishing for the season. Most shippers will finish the week of May 4th/May 11th depending on Demand which is moderate currently. Quality is still being reported as good. Market is steady.
California - Quality is being reported as Excellent. One thing to keep in mind is the new-crop onions don't have the skin that the northwest onions have. They also tend to be topped shaped and are generally uglier than storage onions. Good supplies of Jumbo and Colossal yellows onions. Medium yellow onions are limited. Supplies of Red and White onions are very limited but will improve as this week moves on. Market is steady.
Mexico - Supplies are hit and miss on all color and sizes depending on shipper. Quality is being reported as good. They have about two maybe three weeks left before they finish for the season. Demand is light with a steady market.
Texas- The heavy rain this growing area received a week ago has supplies limited. It also hurt the quality, with reports of staining throughout the packs. Demand is light with a steady market.

Washington continues to ship D'anjou pears and red pears. The D'anjous are still heavy to the larger sizes and have limited availability on 11's and smaller. The red pears will be available through May but supplies are light.
On the Import side we have both Chilean and Argentinean fruit. The Chilean fruit Bartletts are cleaning up and they are smaller in size. The Argentinean fruit is bigger as they are peaking on 100's and larger and that market remains very strong.

Idaho - No change, Large cartons continue to be in an extreme demand exceeds supply situation. 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.

Bakersfield, California continues to pack all colors. The golds and whites are still smaller in size and they both have better availability of B-size while the reds are peaking on A's. All colors have limited availability of Premium and Baker size. The quality has been good.
South Florida is also packing all colors still. The golds and whites are still peaking B-size while the reds are heavier to A-size. Gold and whites are very limited as they will finish to the end of this week. Northern Florida will start the week on May 7th will all colors. The quality has been good.
Phoenix, Arizona has started packing reds and they have A, B, and C cartons available with hardly any #2's. The quality has been good.
North Dakota is still shipping light volume of reds and golds but the end of the season is near.

Early varieties of peaches and nectarines are readily available with most shippers. Quality is reported as very good with sizing running heavy to the smaller fruit. We anticipate all shippers to be offering fruit by the end of this week with a better range of sizes available. Apricots are also improving in supply with good quality and a wide range of sizes. Early season plums are still at least a week away with red plums the first of the new crop to come off.

A handful of growers are getting an early start this week out of new fields in the Palmetto/Ruskin district. Similar to last week, a majority of rounds available are trending to larger sizes leaving smaller fruit available at a premium. Roma and rounds both are available and reported available with good quality. Grape harvest are continuing in good volume as well with most of the nation looking to the East for cherries packs while Mexico transitions to newer fields.

Round tomatoes are plentiful in the West with several operations underway. Roma production is transitioning to Baja and Northern Mainland areas which should see steady production through June, so long as the sun keeps shining. Grapes are finishing up in West Mexico as Baja and glasshouse growers move into stronger production.