The Source - July 11, 2016

Washington - Red delicious are steady to slightly higher. Most shippers continue to peak on extra-fancy 72-88s so the small fruit to remain short. Golden Delicious are steady to higher and are still peaking on Wash-Extra 100/113s. Storage golden supplies are very short and some shippers will gap between C.A. and new-crop. Most suppliers still don't have much larger than an 88-size Golden. Granny Smith are steady on all sizes and continue to peak on 88-113s. Most shippers still don't have much larger than an 88 or smaller than a 125. Galas are extremely short and will be finishing up over the next 7 days. Fuji supplies are also extremely short and will be finishing up over the next few days. Pink Lady's are steady to higher and the market remains firm due to very strong demand. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Chile - Chilean Braeburns are peaking on 70-90s and they are steady on all sizes. Chilean Pinks Ladys are steady and peaking on 70/80s. Chilean Fujis are also steady and peaking on 80-size. The import quality has been good.

Transitions:
California will start packing Galas at the end of July or early in August.

Asparagus supplies are still steady from Mexico and Peru. Quality is good from both regions.

California is the major supplier at this time and is only supplying about 50% of the current demand created by Mexico's short fall. They are trying to get more harvested, but labor shortages are holding growers back.

Alerts:
Demand exceeding supplies. Market continues to rise.

It appears that protesting growers have come to terms with packers that a restricted volume will be harvested and packed each week. This volume appears to be about 2/3rds the volume which they could harvest and pack each week. Some packers did start packing on Sunday, others are beginning today. It will be the second half of the week before we start see this volume start hitting the US shipping points. Most of this fruit will be 60s and 70s, with a very small percent of 48's. This early volume will do very little to fill the supply gap and it will take awhile to fill to hole that the harvesting gap has created.

Alerts:
Protesting growers have come to terms with packers that a restricted volume will be harvested and packed each week. Limited volume start hitting the US shipping points by the end of the week. Most of this fruit will be 60s and 70s, with a very small percent of 48's.

Bell pepper has moved up to the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley. Better supply and size on both Green and Red Varieties, Sizing is good on Both colors.
Reds are still showing the effects of the heat with some condition defects, quality is expected to improve.

Supply is steady with production out of CA, OH, IN, WA and OR. Some growers are gapping in between varieties out of Oregon. Georgia and North Carolina season has pretty well wrapped up production, much smaller volumes. Demand has increased slightly out west due to GA and NC production coming off. Quality is good out of all areas. There have been some isolated instances of wet and leaky berries.

Transitions:
GA and NC are winding down for the season.

Supplies remain steady with production in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Indiana, Michigan. New Jersey is wrapping up their season as some growers made their last picks last week. The southeast region has wrapped up major production although you may still find some GA and NC blues in circulation. Promotional opportunity will be available for the coming weeks and volume will then begin to decrease some. Quality has been good in all areas.

Transitions:
GA, NC and NJ are all wrapping up production for the season.

CA raspberries passed peak production and will continue to decrease in volume moving into the summer. We will be in limited supplies from here on. The CA crop hit peak production numbers in early June. Central MX production has pretty well finished for the season. Quality has remained good out of all regions, some isolated instances of wet, leaky or off-color berries.

Alerts:
We will be in a demand exceeds supply situation for the next several weeks. Mid-July will likely be our lowest point. Production should ramp back up in both CA and Baja Mexico by early-mid August but we will remain in short supplies until then.

Transitions:
Central Mexico has finished major production for the season. Oxnard and Salinas are winding down as Watsonville and Santa Maria will increase production over the coming weeks.

Peak Seasons:
CA crop peaked in mid June. Overall volume will decrease from here on.

Supply and demand are both steady. Quality is good with pickers paying extra attention to pack quality and avoid bruised and overripe fruit. There have been a few reports of sun scald and white/green tips still showing up in the packs. Sizing remains smaller with berries running 18-22 per 1 pound clamshell. Weather has been cool leading to a reduction in harvest estimates. Labor is becoming more of an issue heading into the summer. A few shippers are still packing in Santa Maria but overall production has reduced significantly.

Salinas Strawberry Inspection

Broccoli supplies remain steady as we start the week. The markets vary from each growing region even though supplies are steady. Mexico supplies are steady but they have increased prices across the board. Salinas and Santa Maria have steady prices. Quality has been really nice with minimal yellowing.

There are good supplies of Brussel Sprouts coming from the Salinas Valley. Mexico is also still harvesting acreage as well as Oxnard. The market is steady at competitive levels. Quality is excellent.

The Bakersfield crop is in full production. Growth is good and starting to yield good percentage of Jumbo size and supplies are getting much better. Supply of baby peeled carrots are good.

The cauliflower market has reached its peak. Supplies are steady but the lack of demand has caused a downward trend in the market. There are quality reports of some off color but over all quality is nice.

This market is steady to begin week. Small sizing, forty-eight count in particular are demanding a higher price with all suppliers. The best deals continue on large sizes. The market simply has not reacted upward for these summer months. Michigan production is picking up. Santa Maria and Salinas continues to have good quality and production numbers to begin the week. Expect lighter supplies next week out of the west coast.

Red cherries out of the Northwest growing region are approaching the end of the season. Supplies have started to taper off as production has slowed down. Shippers are expecting harvest numbers to continue to decrease gradually as we finish this week and drastically drop off next week. The season will come to an end by the week of the 25th.

Alerts:
The Northwest cherry supplies are decreasing quickly as we approach the end of the season.

Anaheim - Sizing and quality remain good. More product being offered. Excellent size and color.

Pablano - Slightly lighter supply with some growers finishing. Good quality and condition expected to continue.

Tomatillo - Good supply of tomatillo shipping from California.

Jalapeno- good quality on new crop pepper, mostly large sizing with good color.

The cilantro market is unchanged with the exception of a couple of suppliers lacking supplies. Quality reports from the arrivals have been some yellow to black leaves and dehydration. But the complaints have been minimal.

The Ventura crop is our main supplier. Demand is stronger than normal and continues to build. We are seeing 165s/200s235s supplies tighten clean up daily.

The 110ct & 150ct continue coming down and are nearly the same price as the smaller ones. Demand is good on all sizes across the board. The peak size is in the smaller 230ct but it's beginning to change towards larger sizes. Quality is good overall. The overall supplies are increasing. The market is steady on the 175 - 250ct limes.

Shippers have good supplies of Valencias and peaking on 88s/113s/138s. There will still be a few Navels available this week. Labor to harvest fruit is an issue for some growers.

Good quality and condition on cucumbers coming out of Northern Baja coast. Better production has picked up from multiple grower's this week. All sizes are being packed in 1 1/9 bushel boxes. Also 24's-36's-42's being packed. Color is just fair due to hotter temps.

With temperature's in Coachella dropping eggplant showing improvement in quality and condition. Fresno showing good quality and good volume. Cosmetic issue with egg plant are improving.

Green grape supplies continue to increase out of the new harvest Arvin areas. Quality has been reported as excellent and sizes are peaking in the Larges to Extra Large range. Market prices dropped slightly as production numbers jumped up this week. We expect to see prices remain steady for the remainder of the week with another slight drop toward the weekend and early next week.

Red grape supply out of the Arvin growing regions continues to increase. Quality has been strong, but sizes are still on the smaller size with most fruit peaking in the Medium to Large range. We did see a slight drop in price this week, but shippers are expecting markets to level off and remain steady for the rest of the week. As production continues to push forward, I expect to see some aggressive spot buy opportunities for volume orders. There is some residual Mexican inventory being offered at cheaper prices, but quality will be marginal.

Steady supplies is the story here. Both Mexico and California continue to have plentiful supplies. The market is competitive and unchanged. There have been minimal quality complaints.

There are good supplies of kale from all growing regions. Prices have been stable and competitive. Quality has been excellent too.

This market continues to gain strength. Multiple suppliers began the week sold out. Expect limited availability throughout the week with this commodity. There continues to be a a production gap. Some shippers are calling this gap to run two more weeks. Defects continue to be reported. These defects include pink ribbing, spotting, light weights and puffiness are common defects. Expect active markets throughout the week, even though business overall in the produce industry is off. Schools are expected to begin in August.

This market is steady on all leaf items. Green leaf in particular has multiple shippers flexing on volume type orders. Good availability on all leaf items is expected throughout the week. Romaine heart availability has eased up considerably with most suppliers. Demand is off. Defects continue on leaf items. These defects include tip and fringe burn. The defects , however are considerably less than in past weeks.

The West Side started shipping a couple of weeks ago and supplies are steadily increasing. Quality out of the West Side is reported to be very nice. The desert is finished now. The market is steady to higher due to a decrease in overall supplies since the desert has finished. Demand is steady.

Growers are harvesting dews in the West Side and the volume will steadily increase. The desert honeydews are finished up for the season and Mexico will be done this week. Quality in the West Side is very nice. The market is steady to higher mainly due to a decreased overall supplies. Quality has been reported as good.

Demand for Western Watermelon has curtailed after the 4th. Watermelon is being shipped from Western Arizona, Southern and Central California. Quality is good with mostly Large sizes being harvested. Extreme heat has increased the sizing to mostly very large fruit.

Onions are still coming out of Central California and New Mexico. New Mexico supplies are peaking on Jumbo's and smaller with very few colossal being packed. This has the market firming on Jumbo's and larger. Growers will get into larger onions at the end of this week. This will not effect the market till the following week. California is peaking on Jumbo's with larger and smaller onions being packed. Reds and whites are steady out of both growing areas. Look for the Yellow market to stabilize as this week moves on. New crop Washington and Idaho should start breaking ground the middle of next month. Weather has been ideal so far in both growing areas.

California - Bartlett pears are steady on all sizes and peaking on 100/110/90s. The quality has been good. Crimson pears are also steady and peaking on half carton 45/50s. There are a few full carton Crimsons available as well.
Washington - D'anjou pears are steady but supplies are very short as there season is almost over.
Chile - Chilean & Argentinian Bosc are both steady to lower and they continue to peak on 70-100s. The quality has been good.

It's rainy season in the tropics. We are starting to see some water translucency show up in the pineapples and a greener shell color. Shippers will picking the fruit a little earlier to help prevent the water translucency, this leads to the greener shell color. Shell color is not an indication of ripeness. Supplies are tight and are expected to be so through July.

Idaho- Demand is light with good supplies of all sizes and packs. Market will stay fairly stable into the middle of August. New crop which will over lap the Storage crop will be the main reason for the markets staying fairly stable. Quality of the storage crop is being reported as good. Weather has been ideal for the new crop.
Washington/Colorado - Demand is moderate with storage supplies winding down quickly. This is keeping the markets steady on most sizes and packs. A few shippers could have a few day gap between storage crop and new crop with others have having supplies all the way through. New crop could stat up by the end of this month with good reports on the quality.
Wisconsin - Supplies are winding down quickly with shippers quoting higher pricing on all packs and sizes to slow down demand. This should keep the shippers in enough supplies till the new crop starts rolling in the end of this month. Quality is still being reported as good.

Bakersfield California - reds, whites, and golds are short as the Bakersfield season is almost finished. The shippers that have product are steady to higher. The quality ahs been good.
Stockton California - they are just starting to pack this week and are higher than Bakersfield was. They have good quality with good maturity.Phoenix Arizona - they are finished for the season.
Alabama - Red potatoes are steady to lower with better availability in the A-size. The quality is good.
North Carolina - reds and golds are steady on all sizes but gold supplies are limited. Whites are finishing so only light supplies of them. All colors are peaking on A-size and larger. The quality is fair to good.
Muleshoe Texas - Muleshoe red potatoes are slightly lower on all sizes while their golds are steady. The quality has been good.
Missouri - they are steady on all Reds. The quality is reported as good.
Washington - the eastern part of the state has started packing red and gold potatoes and they are peaking on A-size while Bs and smaller are limited.

Heavy production on both zucchini and yellow squash are being offered in volume. Sizing is mostly larger due to warm weather. Quality is mostly good but some scarring on certain lots.

As a result of the recent warm weather, all stone fruit is sizing up quickly. This is driving the market prices on the larger tray pack fruit down and raising the prices on the smaller volume fill fruit. We expect this to be the trend through the remainder of this week and into next week until the weather cools down. That being said, we will continue to have steady availability and aggressive spot buy opportunities on large tray pack fruit. Smaller fruit will be snug and advanced orders are recommended. Quality has been steady, but we are getting some reports of soft fruit due to the heat. Apricots will continue to be limited in availability and market prices have started to climb as production slows down.

Round tomatoes are dwindling in the eastern growing regions of the U.S. Florida and Carolina have finished producing for the season and Arkansas has began to taper off. The market will be substantially higher until Virginia and Tennessee get started in the next week or so. The roma market is mixed based on scattered quality fruit being shipped from the west. Expect to pay premium for larger sizes. Grape and Cherry tomatoes remain short this week due to a gap in production along the eastern shore. There is light harvests underway, but not nearly enough to cover the demand. Volume should increase in the coming days as new crops get started.

California still has an abundance of tomatoes and the market is very reasonable at this time. The roma tomato market is up, especially for bigger, higher quality fruit. With mixed quality reports circulating, expect cheaper fruit to show cracks and sun scars from excessive heat. Overall, larger romas are short in supply and harvesting in several areas including Baja, Mexico, mainland Mexico, and central California. In the west there is very heavy demand for grapes, keeping their markets strong. Cherry tomato supplies are coming from Baja, Mexico, central California, and mainland Mexico. None of the areas have heavy volume and the market is all over the board, depending on the area.