The Source - April 29, 2015

New York continues to pack Red Delicious, Red Romes and McIntosh. They have a few Empires left but are finishing up. Most varieties are still peaking on 100's and larger. The quality has been good. They expect top pack until approximately mid June.
Michigan continues to pack Empires, Ida-reds, Jonagolds, Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Romes. The Red Romes, Red Delicious, and Jonagolds are all still peaking on 88's and larger. The Empires, Jonathans, Ida-reds have better availability on 100's and smaller. Availability is starting to get lighter on some varieties. 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 the Wash extra-fancy #1 and Premiums 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 and peaking on the larger sizes. Small Fujis are very short. Galas are steady to slightly higher and still peaking on 88/100's. The Galas have better availability in the smaller sizes. Honeycrisp are still available but supplies are very light and the market is high and strong. Opals, Jazz, Jonagolds, Pink Lady's, and a few other varietals are still available as well.

This market is firm. No supplier is packing twenty-eight pound cases. Jumbo packs are better in availability compared to past weeks. Mexican product will be on the light side of production for another week minimum. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on eleven pound cases. Salinas and Mexico continue to be the main growing regions for this commodity. Peruvian product has picked up in availability, and loading out of Miami will be a sharper price.

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. Quality and flavor are at their peak.

Central Mexico volume will continue to decline for the next several weeks. Some quality issues are showing up in the packs as well with soft berries, red cell and mold. CA fruit has started in a light way out of Santa Maria; we'll see this volume increase by mid-May. Quality has been good on this fruit.

Volumes are increasing as domestic fruit regions continue to come on. CA central valley, Georgia and Florida are all in production with areas of MX still going as well. Fruit quality has been good consistently. Sizing is varying by regions. Larger packs are most common with the good volumes of fruit being harvested, few small 4.4 oz clams being packed.

All growing areas continue to increase in production with Central MX expected to peak in the upcoming week. Very light availability starting out of Salinas/Watsonville and Santa Maria and will continue to increase throughout May. Quality is good, some darker berries showing up in the packs. This is a seasonal color profile by variety and needs to be distinguished against overripe fruit.

With rain this past weekend and the increased demand that will continue throughout Mother’s Day pull, strawberry supplies remain in a demand exceeds supply situation. Bruising, water damage, decay, green tip and white shoulders are all common defects showing up in the packs. As far as counts are concerned, most 1 pound clams continue ranging from 13 to 21 in Santa Maria and Salinas/Watsonville areas and 22 to 26 in the Oxnard area for the few shippers still shipping down there.

Alerts:
STRAWBERRIES:
Demand exceeds supply, this will continue throughout Mother's Day pull.

This market is up. The problems with knuckling and branching continues with bunched product, this is making availability very light. Broccoli crowns have better supplies and are cheaper to purchase in the marketplace. Expect these qualities throughout the week on this commodity. Salinas has the best supplies compared to all the other growing regions. 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 will 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 firm. 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.

Cherries are still limited in volume as the central valley is just beginning to ramp up its harvest. Quality is fair to good and pricing is still too high to be very promotable. This should change over the next ten days as supplies and quality are projected to improve. The first weeks of May should see us moving into the Fresno / Visalia region with much better fruit available.

Size curve is switching, crop is peaking on 140's and smaller. Lack of size growth, is lightening 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 and will be increasing as we move forward. Quality on Valencia's is very good, color is nice and brix are 10.5-12.00 average.

The market is steady on green seedless grapes. We are now mostly storage greens with Coachella and Mexico on the horizon. You can expect to see quotes on the domestic and Mexican deals next week. Quality on these growing regions is reported to be excellent and the fruit will command a premium at the start of the deal.

The red seedless grape market is about steady on the Chilean fruit with good supplies of medium large fruit. Larger fruit is more limited in volume as we approach the end of the Chilean deal. Pricing has also split with the larger fruit commanding a premium over the smaller lots. Quality is still reported as good. The Coachella deal has started in a small way with excellent size and outstanding quality. This fruit is commanding much higher prices than the Chilean fruit and will continue to do so for the next few weeks.

This market is softer. Shippers are listening to all offers. Demand is on the light side on bunched product. The issues of crossing the Mexico border are 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 continues to gain strength. Escalated pricing is in effect. A few shippers are sold out until the end of the week. Demand is up. Most supplies are being harvested in the Salinas Valley. The weights are ranging from 41-47 pounds. Issues include ribbing, insect damage and rusting. Santa Maria will be very light in production. Demand is expected to be strong throughout the week for this commodity.

Alerts:
ICEBERG LETTUCE:
Lettuce supplies will be light in availability throughout the week with all suppliers.

The romaine market is steady. Insect damage is the biggest issue at this time. Salinas' production is moderate. 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.

Alerts:
LEAF LETTUCE:
Green leaf continues to be a demand exceeds supply in the marketplace. This will continue all week.

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 - We are down to three shippers still packing out of this area which will finish up by the end of next week first part of the following. Quality is still good for being in storage for 7 months. Market is steady. Washington - Most shippers out of this area will finish for the season in the next two weeks. Quality is still good for being in storage for 7 months. Market is steady.
California - All shippers are harvesting this week out of Southern California with all colors and sizes. Quality is Excellent. Demand is moderate which is keeping the market steady. Again, keep in mind 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.
Mexico - Supplies limited on Yellow and Reds coming out of Mexico the middle of this week. Good availability of White onions both mediums and jumbo's. We have about two weeks left before this growing area will finish for the season. Market is trying to firm but with light to moderate demand is keeping it steady for now. Quality is good.
Texas- Supplies should start to improve next week as more growers start to harvest. Quality is hit and miss due to the heavy rains this growing area received a week ago. Demand is light with a steady market.

Washington is still shipping D'anjou pears and red pears. The D'anjous are peaking on US#1 80-100's. The red pears will be available through May but supplies are light.
We still have both Chilean and Argentinean imports. The Chilean Bartletts are cleaning up and they are smaller in size. The Argentinean fruit is bigger and they continue to peak on 100's and larger. The Argentinean market remains very strong.

Idaho - The supply situation out of Idaho looks to continue to get tighter on large cartons as this season moves on. This was brought about from weather issues during the growing season late in the summer. The Idaho's crop normally averages around 55% size, which generates average amount of count cartons from 40 count to 120 count. This season they are averaging around 25% to 35%. Of that percent it breaks out with most of that size being in the 7-8oz range with very few potatoes reaching 10oz or Larger. Quality of the storage crop that is left is fair at best which is causing heavy shrink, adding to the shortage of cartons. 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. Quality is still good. Demand is moderate with a steady market. Look for the market to firm up as week get into summer.
Washington - Is the only major potato producing state with large cartons (40-60 count). Demand is good on 40 -70 count potatoes with a firm market. 80 count and smaller are steady. Quality is good. Colorado/Wisconsin - The supply situation out of these two growing areas is similar to Idaho's with light supplies of large cartons. They are also having issues with heavy shrink in their late storages, which is not helping. Market is firm. Quality is good.

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

Bakersfield, California is packing all colors. The golds and whites are still smaller and both have better availability of B-size while the reds heavier to A-size. All colors have limited availability of Premiums & Bakers. The quality has been good.
South Florida is still packing all colors but the gold and white availability is light. The golds and whites are still peaking on B's while the reds are heavier to A's. Gold and whites will finish at the end of this week.
Northern Florida (Hastings) has started packing red potatoes. They will have golds and whites next week.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds. They have A, B, and C cartons available with very few #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.

Peach and nectarine supplies are still a little sketchy at the beginning of this season. We see this changing in the coming two weeks as all suppliers move into better volume and a steadier supply. Quality is reported as very good although sizing is still projected to run heavier to the smaller fruit. The apricot market is running strong. Quality is reported as excellent with adequate supplies of all sizes available. The plum / pluot harvest is still several weeks away from starting domestically.

Round tomato production is steady out of new fields with prices low for this time of year. With most growers into crown picks, smaller fruit is running short. Romas and Rounds are steady with demand picking up as we head into May. Cherry and Grape tomatoes continue to carry the market from Florida with little coming out of Mexico. There is not much change in price and availability from past weeks also being harvested in larger sizes. Rain in the forecast may bring a slow to production sending price up by next week.

Rounds are in good supply with larger fruit available in greater volumes as growers pick from new plants. Roma production is also increasing following the trend of Florida growers with picks trending toward larger size. Quality and availability is good and increasing weekly. Baja has started shipping grape and cherry tomatoes in light numbers. With Demand low, Grape tomatoes available however cherries are much harder to source.