The Source - July 11, 2018

As we continue to get to the end of the storage season over the next five weeks, red delicious apple supplies will start to dwindle down. We will see less fancy fruit and will have to move towards higher grade. The varietals are already following in suit with the overall market. Which is trending higher. It is yet to be seen if once the new crop starts if it will settle and trend lower. Quality remains really good with storage apples still holding decent pressure testing and sugar content. Granny Smith apples are also still abundant. Also, we still have imported apples from Chile / Argentina.

The rain has returned to Central Mexico, looks like rain for 5 of the next eight days. Despite the rain, production has slightly increased, and the market has leveled off. Northern Baja has started production, and we should see an increase in their production over the next two weeks. California Asparagus is done for the season. Weather in both regions in Peru (Trujillo/ICA) has started to warm up a little, but bigger sizes are still in short supply due to the cooler temperatures over the last two weeks. Markets are steady in all regions despite the rain in Central Mexico.

California demand continues to outweigh supply as the season begins its initial industry-wide decline in weekly volume. Fruit is ripening well and tasting great. Size peaking on 48s/60s/70s. Market pricing has been very stable, but with Mexico's volume declining, prices are beginning to strengthen. Demand remains strong on 48s/60s/70s keeping supplies tight.

Mexico's weekly volume will continue to decline to the seasonal end of their normal crop sometime in July. We are still waiting for the Flor Loca crop the gain maturity. This summer crop is difficult to predict, but light volumes are expected. Demand remains good, and we are still seeing tighter supply situation on 48s and very limited supplies on 60s and 70s number one fruit.

Most suppliers in Georgia have come to an on packing bell pepper in the last seven days, with just a handful left packing through this week. North Carolina is still harvesting, but yields will start to decrease this week. New Jersey just recently started, and Michigan looks to be another week away from starting with any real volume to help with demand. The market has steadily trended up this week thus far and looks to continue through this weekend with supplies being limited until more growing regions begin.

Blackberry supplies are light but steady. Santa Maria, Salinas and Watsonville are all in production, but volumes have been below expectations. Central California continues with harvest this week, and we expect to have good availability loading out of Selma, CA. On the east coast, Georgia and North Carolina continue to harvest, but with lighter volumes. Demand and market prices have been steady. If loading in Selma, CA is an option, we will have opportunity buys this week. Salinas and Watsonville will see better availability over the next two weeks.

We have excellent supplies of Blueberries this week. On the west coast, we have full production in the Pacific Northwest. This fruit is available to load in Oregon, Selma, CA and Los Angeles, CA. Shippers have plenty of fruit to push with aggressive prices for volume opportunities. Quality is being reported as very good. On the east coast, Michigan is in full production with good availability. North Carolina and New Jersey are winding down this week and will come to an end quickly. Quality on the Michigan fruit is good. They are packing mostly Pints, and the markets have come down slightly. Again, promotional opportunities are available.

With the hotter weather, the Raspberry plants close and tighten its grip on the berries. This lowers production due to the possible damage that can occur at the time of picking. Salinas, Watsonville and Santa Maria are all in production, but volumes are lighter this week. This will be the case until the weather cools down a little bit. I do not expect to see any disruption in order fulfillment, but the open fruit will be limited. Demand has been steady, and the price remains high. We do expect better availability and a slight adjustment down on market prices over the next two weeks.

Supplies will continue to be limited this week, and we can expect to see some quality challenges develop. All shippers are sold out today, some expect to have a little open fruit tomorrow, but most are saying nothing until Wednesday. I do not expect to see adjustments or fill rates, but the open market fruit will be hard to come by. The weather in all growing areas was very warm over the weekend. In Santa Maria, the temperatures ranged in the high 80’s and Salinas / Watsonville was in the low 80’s. The heat slowed down production in all areas, and shippers expect to see some soft and dark fruit for the next two weeks. Santa Maria is expected to see more quality issues than Salinas / Watsonville, but we do expect to see the results of the heat here as well. Additionally, the Salinas / Watsonville growing regions is on the back side of its peak production period and more hot days are in the forecast. Shippers are warning us now of possible quality challenges and want to be proactive in communication. As mentioned above, we can expect to see darker soft fruit that will be more susceptible to bruising. Growers are aware of the issues and will be doing their best to avoid bad fruit. However, these issues may not be immediately noticeable; the berries tend to show bruising 2-3 days post-harvest. Demand has been good, and market prices are higher.

Alerts:
Supplies are limited and prices are higher. Warmer weather is expected to cause softer and darker berries.

Peak Seasons:
We are on the tail end of the first peak production in Salinas / Watsonville. We expect another peak in August.

The broccoli market has some strength from all growing regions. Supplies are decreasing as we go through the typical growth cycle. The long-term outlook is 10 to 14 days for supplies to return to a normal level. Quality remains good with minimal yellowing, little dehydration, and decent crown size.

The current market on Brussels Sprouts is demand exceeds. Mexico is done until November, and the Oxnard region is not able to cover the additional volume needed to meet demand. Salinas is slowly improving with supplies. Quality has improved from the previous weeks and is seeing less insect damage, black spotting and decay. This market will maintain it's current strength until Salinas sees supplies increasing.

Cooler than normal weather in the California growing area has slowed size growth, causing a very low yield of jumbo size carrots and strengthening the market on jumbos. Value-added packs and medium-sized supplies remain good.

Cauliflower supplies remain abundant from both the Salinas and Santa Maria growing regions. The market is very competitive as well. The quality reports have shown weights in the 27 to 30-pound level, little yellow to cream color, and minimal bruising / brown to black spotting.

Pricing is firm with some suppliers while others have become more aggressive. Small sizing, 36's, in particular, continues to demand the highest pricing with shippers both north and south. This market continues to be active with good demand. Supplies in Southern California continue to be moderate at best, and production in Salinas is light. Michigan is expected to begin production by the end of this week. Oxnard is scheduled to finish production by July 15th as scheduled. Santa Maria will have production for the southern California region. The quality continues to be reported as above average.

Transitions:
Michigan is expected to begin production by the end of the week.

Good supplies continue to be the story with this commodity both north and south. Expect good competitive pricing from multiple shippers throughout the week. Cilantro supplies also exist out of Mexico. Quality has been a little more hit and miss out of this region. Minimal decay and yellow leaves have been reported upon arrivals out of the California growing regions.

The overall lemon demand far exceeds supplies. Domestic production out of Ventura County is nearly finished with picking and working out of limited storage fruit. What fruit is left is heavy to standard grade. Importers of off shore fruit are still waiting on useable volume of fruit to begin to arrive toward the end of July, with crop reporting to be lighter in volume and larger in size.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply on all sizes of choice and fancy grades.

Not much change on Lime supplies this week. We are seeing a shift in production where larger fruit will be higher in volume. We expect to have good supplies of sizes 150 - 175ct this coming week. Quality overall has been fair. We are seeing lighter color and smooth skin. Market prices have remained fairly steady with occasional spot buy opportunities on larger fruit. Looking out over the next 3-5 weeks, shippers are expecting limited supplies as we transition between crops.

California Valencia harvest is moving at a steady pace. Packers are packing only 2 to 3 days a week to spread this light crop out into September. Fruit quality and color are good, with size currently peaking 88s/72s/113s. Demand remains strong. Small size fruit 113s/138s will be limited through to entire Valencia season.

Cucumber supply remains steady with various loading points in the north, New Jersey, and in the western Carolinas. Being as these locations are working new fields, quality thus far has been good. There is an overall feeling that cucumbers in some of these growing regions could have some quality and supply concerns with recent stretches of high heat and rain. Markets could very well trend up going into this weekend.

Most Georgia suppliers have finished cutting eggplant in the last seven days; although there are a few patches still harvesting in a limited way. Markets have been on the lower side recently, but with a gap on the horizon before Michigan and surrounding areas start harvest, markets have started to trend up. North and South Carolina are now packing in a limited way, too. However, those states traditionally do not provide a tremendous amount of volume. New Jersey should be starting in the next 7-10 days, which will help provide some relief until Michigan starts to harvest.

Grapes started being harvested out of the Arvin area over the weekend. So far the crop is excellent, with terrific, sizing, color, with strong stems. There are still some greens out of the Coachella area, and a few people still have some cheaper late season Mexican product available, but that is scarce. Weather in the valley looks perfect for grape harvesting so expect to see excellent quality green grapes for the foreseeable future.

Red grapes out of the Arvin area are excellent quality. The weather in the area is perfect for grape harvesting, so we are seeing a very strong crop. Sizing is terrific, color is very good, and bunches have very strong green stems. There is still a decent amount of Mexican product available, but most shippers have transferred that product up into the valley in order to load with other grapes, and avoid trucks having to go to Nogales. Expect to see excellent quality fruit for the next few weeks.

The market continues to be competitive. With a steady flow of supplies coming from Mexico, sizing is still trending to the smaller sizing. Jumbos are basically nonexistent at this point. Quality has been improving overall, and the presence of thrip damage and leaf minor is minimal. The hot weather is helping fight off thrip and leaf minor presence. Due to the heat, harvesting at night has kept the quality issues in check.

Supplies continue to be good with steady demand. The kale market is steady with no signs of changing in the coming week. Quality is generally good with good color, full bunches, and only an occasional yellow leaf being reported.

Demand has picked up with this commodity in the marketplace. The growing areas both north and south have been very warm. Defect was noting include puffiness, ribbing, misshapen heads, and mechanical. Suppliers are seeing slightly lower yields as well as an upbeat to the market. There is much less flexing compared to past weeks. The weights on palletized lettuce have been running at 43-48 pounds consistently. Overall the quality is average with a few shippers above average. No rain is in the forecast, but temperatures should be lower next week in all the growing regions.

A steady market and good supplies continue to be the story with romaine as well as all leaf items. The overall quality has been fair mainly due to warm temperatures in the growing regions both north and south. Common defects include ribbing, fringe burn, insect damage and mechanical. Warm temps will continue this week then are expected subside the following week. Shippers continue to flex on volume type orders. The weights on the product continue to be strong. Expect plenty of product for the entire week to be available with most shippers.

The weather for growing conditions has been optimal for all tender leaf items. Supplies are abundant for arugula, spring mix, baby spinach, and cello spinach. The quality has been really nice with minimal yellowing, excessive moisture, or bruising of the tender leaves.

Quality remains good as we are in the first weeks of the California Harvest. The weather has been hot in the San Joaquin Valley but has not affected the crops. We are seeing good brix/sugar levels from 12-14. Plenty of larger fruit available 6s,9s and 12s. Shippers are reporting less volume on smaller fruit 15s and 18s. There is a limited amount of fruit on the Yuma, Arizona area as their season tapers off.

Shippers are reporting good quality on Honeydew melons along with good brix/sugar levels in the range of 10-12. Plenty of fruit available on all sizes 4s, 5s, 6s, 8s, and 9s. The weather has been hot in the San Joaquin Valley growing region with some days in the triple digits. Harvest crews are only working 4-5 hour shifts. Overall melons hold up well in warm to hot weather.

The main shipping areas currently for Yellow, Red, and White Onions are California and New Mexico. There are good supplies of Walla Walla Sweets coming out of Washington. Quality out of all areas is good. Sizing out of New Mexico has shifted from Jumbo's are larger to mainly Jumbo's and smaller which has firmed the Colossal and Super Colossal markets. Thunderstorms are forecasted in New Mexico for the balance of this week. These showers have hit some growing areas dropping a couple of inches of rain. Leaving other growing areas dry. Shippers are keeping an eye on their dry inventory to make sure to have enough supplies to cover their regular orders. California growers are currently is good supplies of Jumbo and larger. Red onions supplies are still limited out of New Mexico, and the hit and miss showers are not helping. The market is steady at higher levels. White onions supplies are hit and miss out of both growing areas. Market steady but firm.

Alerts:
Keep and eye on the weather out of New Mexico.

California has started in a light way Red Crimson Pears and will start up Bartletts as well. The market will remain strong through next week, but quality will be excellent. We continue to have imported fruit as well. The market remains steady at higher levels though.

Transitions:
California has started harvesting Crimson Red Pears and Bartletts.

Pineapple volume coming from the tropics remains good, but we are beginning to see a small seasonal decline for the summer and fall. This is planed production drop as summer time a period of good availability of other fruit types which compete with pineapples. Size peaking on 6s/7s.

Potato market is steady on most size cartons and bales loading out of Idaho. Washington, Colorado, and Wisconsin are slowly winding down for the season which is putting more demand on Idaho supplies which so far has been able to keep up. Washington will be the first to start up with new crop in a very light way late next week. The weather has been ideal out of growing areas. Look for the new crop pricing to come out high and slowly steady out as more growers come online. New Crop Idaho will start up the week of August 6th. There will be an overlap up old crop. Now is the time to start planning for your last shipments of Russet Burbank. The biggest swing in pricing will be on the #2's 6oz and 10oz as the New Crop Norkotah's mainly pack out #1's. Quality is still very nice with very few issues upon arrival. Look for the markets to tighten up over the next couple of weeks as we transition into New Crop.

Alerts:
Idaho Storage Burbanks will slowly wind down as we get into August.

Transitions:
Washington is transitioning to New Crop Norkotah's over the next couple of weeks.

Red potato market is steady with good supplies shipping out of many states California, Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, and Alabama. Washington is set to start next week in a light way on Reds with Yellow to follow. Golds and Whites are still mainly shipping out of California keeping this market firm. Supplies out of California will be shifting from Bakersfield area to Stockton over this next week. Quality has been good on all colors coming out of all areas.

Transitions:
California supplies are shifting from Bakersfield growing area to Stockton.

Yellow and Green Squash supply remains steady. A lot of local patches are now in full swing. Squash can be found in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina, Canada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey just to touch on a few locations. Georgia has finished packing for the summer as of last week. Demand overall is steady, although there have been some stretches of high temperatures coupled with rain which could potentially cause some quality and availability concerns; if we do in fact run into this scenario, markets should still remain tame with so many regions producing now.

Stone fruit continues to be in its peak season. Smaller fruit is tougher to find as everything being harvested currently is much larger than we have seen earlier in the season. Plum prices have finally come off, and the market feels fairly stable and will continue to be so, for the foreseeable future. Quality is excellent, and color on fruit is very good. Shippers are preparing POS packets in anticipation of schools going back into session later this month.

South Carolina has finished their summer stint of tomatoes yielding light volume going into the first week of July. However, production is improving out of new farms in Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee and Alabama this week. Although supply is improving, the market is still hovering around double digit quotes while California continues to crank out mature greens at nearly half the price of Eastern Shipping points. Similarly, Tennessee and Alabama are increasing Roma production helping local supply in the east and selling within a dollar or two of comparable minimums of their western counterpart. First reports from Virginia this week are very good promoting both grape and cherry tomatoes. The market is lower and will be steady over the next 7-10 days while volumes continue to build, and hurricane Chris in the Atlantic turns away from land and changes course north towards Newfoundland.

Supply from Mexico remains steady while operations transition south of our border, and California enters into full production of round and Roma tomatoes. Heavy supply of mature greens and vine ripe tomatoes seem to be stabilizing markets at very low prices for the immediate future. California rounds are near half the price of the mandated minimums set for Mexico imports. Roma tomatoes are available from both California and Mexico stabilizing markets at seasonal norms and forecasted to remain steady through July. Baja underwent a slow start to the season but has improved quality and supply helping to further create cheap grape tomato markets in the west. Quality and supply have both improved from just a few weeks ago and circulating quotes this week are again an indication of the lower markets to follow in the weeks ahead as the summer season gets underway.