The Source - December 7, 2015

Washington - the red delicious remain large and most packers continue to peak on 72/80/88s with only light supplies of 113s and smaller. The red market is steady on all sizes but the market remains strong. Washingtons red delicious volume is down by 30% from last year so expect a season-long strong market. Golden delicious are steady and still producing mostly Wash-Ex grade 100/113s. Large Goldens are still very short! Washington's golden delicious volume is down by 25% from last year so expect them to stay strong all season as well. The Granny-smith market is steady to higher on all sizes and they are peaking on 88/100/113s. Most Granny shippers don't have much larger than an 88 and they are still short on 125's and smaller. Galas are steady on all sizes. Most Gala shippers are still peaking on 100/113s and don't have much available on 88's or larger. Fujis are steady and are peaking on extra-fancy 80/88/100's. Honeycrisp are steady to higher and the market is strong due to light supplies. Honeycrisp are peaking on 64/72s. Lower grade Honeycrisp are still relatively cheaper but supplies are short. Jonagolds and Braeburns are both steady and continue to peak on 72/80/88's. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Michigan - Red delicious are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 80/88s. Empires are steady on all sizes and still peaking on 125/138s but Empire supplies are limited. Most suppliers will finish with Empires in late November or early December. McIntosh are steady and they are heavier to 125/138s. Galas are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 125/138s. Golden delicious are steady and they are still peaking on 125/138s. Honeycrisp are nearly finished for the season. Jonathans are steady on all sizes and they are still peaking on 150/138/125s. Fujis are steady to lower and they are also peaking on 125/138s. Red Romes, Ida-reds, and Jonamacs, are all still available.
New York - Red delicious, Macs, Galas, Macouns, Romes, Cortlands, and Golden delicious are all steady. Macoun and red delicious volume is good and some shippers will flex on certain sizes and grades, all other varieties have only limited supplies available. The Gala volume is light on all sizes. The quality has been good on all varieties.

Asparagus supplies from Mexico and Peru are extremely limited. Christmas Ads coupled by very good demand have caused this market to react very quickly. Prices have jumped by double digits. Mexico does not have enough supplies to cover the West Coast demand. Peruvian supplies are also limited with increased demand off of the East Coast. The market will remain extremely active with limited supplies for the next few weeks. Also during these times quality tends to be fair to marginal at best. Look for some spreading of the tips and dehydration upon arrival.

Alerts:
Extremely Limited Supplies and the Market is extremely Active

Movement is slightly sluggish from the Thanksgiving hangover. Good promotions have been set December. Mexican shipments to the U.S. was up a slight amount last week and look to be consistent for the next few weeks. Supply and demand should hold fairly steady until Super Bowl ramp up begins in early January. We are seeing peak sizes range on 36s/ 40s/48s, but availability on 60s/70s continues to be an issue for some shippers. This new crop fruit is lower in maturity and will take longer to ripen and not darken as much when ripen. Ripe fruit could still be green in color as the skin isn't mature enough for it to darken. Color is not an indication of ripeness, pressure is.

The CA blackberry crop continues to decline in volume and should end major production by early-mid December. Mexico is ramping up production weekly as we move further into their growing season. There are volume and pricing deals available for fruit crossing in McAllen and San Diego. Quality issues with soft fruit, red cell and juicing have been reported in both CA and MX fruit.

Good availability with increased volume arriving on both the East and West coasts. Chile is shipping more blueberries as other areas of South America are declining toward the end of their seasonal production. Mexico is still shipping good volumes as well. Demand has been moderate and supply has been adequate to cover.

Transitions:
Chilean production is increasing and we anticipate adequate supplies of fresh blueberries for the remainder of 2015!

The CA raspberry crop continues to decline in production volume out of all growing districts but central Mexico is ramping up production. Between all production areas, we have adequate supply. CA quality has suffered some with wet, leaky fruit being reported but current reports do show improvements over recent weeks. MX quality has improved and reported with good remarks.

Production remains limited on the west coast as Santa Maria declines toward their seasonal end and Oxnard is just beginning to ramp up production volume with their new crop. Sizing in Santa Maria remains small with 25-30 strawberries per 1 pound clamshell. Oxnard strawberries should begin to increase in size, 18-20 count for new crop. Mexico and Florida production are both increasing in volume. Mexican strawberries are increasing in size, between 24-26 count and Florida counts are a little smaller with 26-28 per 1 pound clamshell. Quality is fair to good overall. Demand is moderate but should strengthen as we move closer into the holiday product pull.

Transitions:
Oxnard is harvesting new crop strawberries!

The broccoli market continues to be demand exceeds supply. Although we are seeing a little bit of supply from all regions we still do not have enough to meet demand. Quality has improved from all growing areas and supply shows some early signs of improvement out of Mexico and the desert regions. That being said, we are still looking at a strong market for the near term.

Alerts:
Broccoli supplies continue to be limited.

Brussel Sprouts in the Salinas Valley are still extremely limited. Sizing is still a big problem, Mostly small sizes. Quality problems have also varied from black spotting to worm damage. The market will remain strong this week due to supplies being limited.

Alerts:
Supplies Extremely Limited with the Market remaining Active

Cooler weather in Bakersfield is still slowing growth and the sizing and tonnage is off. The percentage of jumbo size carrots is lower than normal and market is firm.

The cauliflower market is in an extreme demand exceeds supply situation. The current gap in supplies throughout all growing areas continues. We see little relief for the remainder of the month as the cool weather slows growth on the new crop. With light supplies and little improvement in sight we expect this historically short market to remain strong through the month of December. Quality is generally reported as fair to good.

Alerts:
Extreme shortage of cauliflower supplies continues.

Celery production in the Salinas Valley is done for the season. This, coupled with the losses to production caused by the Fusarium Wilt outbreak in Oxnard; is pushing the market much higher. Indications by most suppliers are for this market to continue in a demand exceeds supply situation well into the new year. Quality is reported as fair to good with sizing and weight currently the main challenges to the industry as a whole.

Alerts:
Drop in supplies drives celery market higher.

Chilean cherries are arriving on both coasts with excellent quality on the 9.5 - 10.5 row. This market is about steady but should ease off over the coming weeks as volumes increase.

Peak Seasons:
Chilean cherries coming up in volume.

Cilantro supplies are limited this week. There was limited product harvested out of Mexico over the weekend creating a firm market. Supplies remain limited out of Oxnard. The market will remain firm to active for the rest of the week. The quality issues we are seeing upon arrival remain the same, yellowing in packs to slimy black decay.

Demand remains very good. The Desert crop is 50% harvested. This crop is producing a larger proportion of fancy grade and is peaking on 140s and larger fruit, which is in good availability, but still leaving us in a demand exceed supplies on 165s and smaller fruit. Expect this shortage on smaller fruit to continue through January.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply on the smaller sized fruit 165s/200s/235s. Expect shortages to go through January.

The lime market is up on the smaller sizes and steady on the larger sizes. Previous rains caused the size profile to go towards larger sizes but the crop has now found equilibrium across the range of sizes. The overall quality is very good on the new crop. Demand is currently a little better than last week which is pulling up some prices.

Navel crop is peaking on 88s/113s/72s. Cooler night time temps are bring on better natural color to the oranges and growers are able to drop gas times on the fruit down to 48 hours or less for some. This will help both quality and turn around of fruit. Volumes will continue to be steady.

The green seedless grape market is about steady as supplies out of Peru continue to improve. The early Chilean green seedless are about a week away from the East Coast; with good volume still several weeks away. The domestic storage crop is cleaning up but showing some quality issues with the last of the fruit (mold, wet)

Alerts:
Domestic green seedless storage grapes showing quality issues.

Transitions:
Peruvian grapes available with Chilean grapes starting soon.

The last of the domestic red grape crop is showing some quality and condition issues. The late Crimson's were left on the vine late in an attempt to let them color up. This resulted in heavy sugar and still only 75% color on average. This combined with the intermittent rains of the last month has lead us to sweet, poorly colored fruit with little storage or shelf life. We expect the market to continue to strengthen as shippers move out their remaining domestic fruit as quickly as possible and have only limited supplies of the better quality Peruvian and Chilean fruit. We should see a strong market on red grapes well into January when volumes of the Chilean grapes increase.

Alerts:
Domestic red seedless showing quality issues

Transitions:
Peruvian Flames available on the East Coast with early Chilean one to two weeks away.

Supplies remain limited on Medium, Large, Jumbo, and Iceless green onions. Better supplies of Small/Pencil green onions are creating a 2 tiered market. Your more aggressive deals have been with small green onions. The quality has been hit and miss for arrivals. Some of the arrival issues have been yellowing / Browning of the tops.

The current market is stable with stable supplies from Oxnard to Yuma. Dark Green color and excellent quality are being reported out of both loading areas. Look for supplies and the market to remain steady for the week.

Although the market has softened compared to last week, product availability is up and down depending on the shipper. The high pricing is slowly starting to take its toll on demand. Expect to see blister and peel upon arrivals throughout the month of December. The temperatures are going to be better this week in the Yuma region, but damage is going to be seen on this commodity. Demand continues to exceed supply. There will be pricing gaps all week ranging from six to eight dollars. The lower yields suppliers are experiencing is widespread. Escalated pricing is in effect on contract cartons as well as value added items. Yuma lettuce is reported to have seeder, light weights, small and irregular head size, puffiness, and insect damage. These defects are industry wide. The weights on palletized lettuce are ranging from 33-39 pounds

Alerts:
Supplies on lettuce are better compared to last week.

Supplies on romaine have picked up as demand has fallen off. The romaine supplies are moderate, overall. Romaine hearts continue to have less bleaching than desired. This is directly due to the cold weather and the shorter daylight hours currently in the growing areas. Escalated pricing is in effect on contract cartons and value added items. Blister and peel expect to see all of this month. Other defects include seeder, light weights, small and irregular head size, puffiness, and insect damage. These defects are industry wide. Green and red leaf are softer as well as butter. These commodities are having issues very similar to romaine. This is industry wide. There will continue to be gaps in pricing among the different shippers on all leaf items throughout the week.

Alerts:
Romaine supplies are more readily available.

Offshore melons are very short in supply currently. Offshore melons are trickling in on the west coast and supplies will build slowly. The quality is good overall with some lots arriving with bruising and scarring. The peak size is 9ct and 6ct with very few 12ct and even less 15ct. The 18ct sizes will not be available for several more days. The large size fruit trend will continue throughout December. We are experiencing very good demand for the cantaloupes that are arriving. Supplies will be lighter than normal for the month of December and the peak size will be 9ct to 6ct. The current market is up on all sizes and looks to continue the upward trend.

Alerts:
The peak size is 9ct and 6ct with very few 12ct, fewer 15ct and zero 18ct. This trend will continue for the month of December. Please be able to substitute into 9ct.

The peak size is currently 6ct with more of all sizes coming in than previously. Mexican dews continue to ship out of Nogales AZ however many growers have finished and soon the volume will be very light. Demand is good on all sizes. Decent volumes are arriving in Florida with the peak size being 5ct. Offshore dews are set to arrive on the west coast mid December. The market is steady on both Mexican and offshore dews.

Washington - the market is steady on all sizes and all colors. Medium yellows are still on the short side. The quality is good on all colors.
Idaho/Oregon - the market is steady on all sizes and colors. Demand has been fair. The quality has been good on all colors.

Washington - Bartletts are steady on all sizes. The market remains strong due to lighter storage supplies. The fruit continues to peak on 110/120s and large sizes remain short. Bosc are steady and continue to peak on 90/100/110s. D'anjou pears are also steady and continue to peak on 90/100s. Most shippers are short of D'anjou 80s and larger. Red pears are steady on all sizes and are still producing mostly half carton 45/50s and full carton 90/100s. The quality has ranged on the bartletts as some suppliers are between regular storage and C.A. The D'anjou, Bosc, and red pear quality is good.

Supplies look good for December. Exports to Europe has backed off and this is helping our supply issues we have seen over the last month.

Washington - all sizes and colors are steady. The norkotah quality has been good.
Idaho - the market is steady on all sizes and in both varieties. Demand has been steady but light. The quality for both varieties has been good.
Colorado - the carton market is steady to slightly lower depending on the supplier. The norkotah quality has been good.
Wisconsin - the carton market is steady on all sizes. The norkotah quality has been good.

Bakersfield, California - red and golds and whites are steady and they all continue to peak on size A. Whites are limited. Premium/Baker size reds and golds remain limited. The quality has been good.
Western Washington - reds and golds are steady and they continue to peak on A size. The quality has been good on all colors.
Idaho - Reds and golds are mostly steady on all sizes. All colors continue to peak on A-size. The quality has been good.
Wisconsin - Reds and golds are steady and both colors are peaking on A-size. Premium and baker reds, premium and baker golds, and gold Cs are still short. The quality has been good.
North Dakota - Reds and golds are steady and still peaking on size A. US#1 and 2 Red B volume remain limited along with premiums and bakers in both colors. The quality has been good.

Rounds - The market is higher. Supplies continue to be short, due to weather. Availability and harvest still tight. Sizing continues to be a struggle. Weather out west continues to be raining and colder. Quality is Good.
Roma - The market is steady. Roma market continues to be steady, with supplies on the tighter side. Mexico continues to be lighter due to weather. Quality is Good.
Cherry - The market is steady. Florida continues to see good supplies, however, weather slowed up harvest a bit. Quality is Good.
Grape - The market is higher. Florida continues to see lower production due to weather. Mexico also struggling due to weather conditions out west. Quality is good.

Rounds - The market is higher. Mexico still struggling due to weather conditions. Supplies a little better back east, but, weather conditions to shorten up supplies. Quality is Good.
Roma - The market is higher. Supplies still lower out west. Weather continues to be an issue. Florida also up in market with lower supplies available. Quality is Good.
Cherry - The market is steady. Mexico supplies steady, but rains slowing tings up a bit. Florida also continues to see steady supplies. Quality is Good.
Grape - The market is steady/higher. Weather continues to slow up supplies. East also a bit slower due to weather. Quality is Good.