The Source - July 18, 2016

Washington - Red delicious are steady to higher depending on the supplier. Most shippers continue to peak on extra-fancy 72-88s. Golden Delicious are steady but firm and still peaking on Wash-Extra 100/113s. Storage golden supplies are limited so expect some suppliers to gap between C.A. and new-crop. Most suppliers still don't have much larger than an 88. 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 few days. Fuji supplies are also extremely short and will be finishing up shortly. 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.
California - a couple shippers have started packing Galas and they are peaking on smaller fruit. The quality is reported as good.
Chile - Chilean Braeburns are peaking on 70-90s and they are steady on all sizes but supplies are limted. 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.

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

California has peaked on their harvest and is on a slow decline to mid August, when the next big drop looks to happed as its season begins its final seasonal harvest.

Alerts:
Demand exceeding supplies.

Mexico is harvesting once again and fruit is beginning to move from Mexico to the States. The void in the supply line and demand is so great, that it will take several weeks for supplies to build. We will be in this Summer Crop (Flora Loca crop) of Mexico’s for the next 6 to 10 weeks and should have decent supplies going forward, unfortunately about 80% of this crop will be 60s/70s/84s. Not many 40s/48s and we don’t see this size curve changing much, maybe 25% 48s and larger by September. We will also see very limit supplies on #2 volume, being it’s early in the season, and fruit is very clean.

Alerts:
Limited volume start hitting the US shipping points. Most of this fruit will be 60s and 70s, with a very small percent of 48's. Demand exceeding supplies.

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.

Overall supply remains steady with production in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Indiana, Michigan. The Pacific Northwest production has backed off some due to recent weather. 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. Watch for soft/shriveled berries coming in from older lots or berries that were exposed to weather.

Peak Seasons:
Harvest volume is backing off out of the Pacific Northwest and many growers will be into their storage lots for shipping over the next several weeks.

CA raspberries passed peak production and will continue to decrease in volume moving through July. We will be in limited supplies from here on. The CA crop hit peak production numbers in early June. Central MX production has all but 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.

Supply is fairly steady with good demand. 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 18-24 per 1 pound clamshell. Weather has been cool leading to a reduction in harvest estimates. Labor is becoming more of an issue with all growers.

There are good supplies from all growing regions. The markets remain aggressive with your best value out of Santa Maria. Quality is really good with good crown size and minimal yellowing.

Supplies out of the Salinas Valley are plentiful with Oxnard and Mexico adding to the volume. This is keeping the market steady. Quality is excellent with little to no complaints.

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

The cauliflower market is steady at current price levels. Supplies are plentiful out of Salinas and Santa Maria. Overall quality is good with occasional arrivals showing bruising.

This market is steady. Although Michigan production is good, California is very competitive in fob pricing so please keep in mind. The delivered cost between the two regions are not that far off. The tightest availability still remains with the small sizes. Shippers are flexing on large sizing. Santa Maria and Salinas will have good supplies throughout the week. Shippers eagerly await school business to create a demand that currently is minimal.

Cherry supplies are volatile. Last week's cooler weather looked like it was going to extend the harvest period to the end of the month. However, weather changes quickly, this morning the Northwest was hit with some rain showers. This will have an immediate impact on the harvest, supply and quality. Shippers are now expecting the final harvest to be this week with a majority of the fruit coming in the front part of the week. By Thursday, harvest will drop off quickly and finish by the weekend. Markets are reacting to the limited supplies and are increasing daily.

Alerts:
Rain in the Northwest is forcing harvest to come to an early end. Market prices are on the rise.

Anaheim - Sizing and quality remain good. Lighter supply this week. waiting on increase in volume from Central California. 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.

Supplies are starting to decrease at a rapid pace. The heat in Mexico has caused a decrease in supply due to burn and black spotting. This has put the pressure on supplies form Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Salinas.

Alerts:
The cilantro market is active due to limited supplies coming from Mexico due to quality.

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 continue coming down and are nearly the same price as the smaller ones while the 150ct to 250ct are within a dollar of each other. Demand is good on all sizes across the board. Limes are peaking on the 175 and 200ct and the trend is continuing towards larger sizes. Quality is good overall with some leaf shading (yellow color) showing up. 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. Starting to see some early demand on 113s and 138s as school demand starts to ramp up over the next few weeks.

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 dropping, eggplant is showing improvement in quality and condition. Fresno showing good quality with limited supply. Cosmetic issue with egg plant are improving.

Green grape supplies remain consistent out of the San Joaquin Valley. Quality has been excellent. Sizing is peaking in the Large to Extra Large range. Currently, growers are harvesting Sugarone and Ivory varieties. Markets have been flat. Last week we did not see much fluctuation in price and this week starts off in the same range. As production volume continues to increase, we expect to see some flex.

Red seedless grape production out of the San Joaquin Valley continues to improve. Good availability on smaller size grapes (sizes Small - M/L). Larger profile berries are more limited. Quality on all sizes has been excellent. Markets have been consistent with the supply. Smaller sized grapes are being offered at more aggressive prices than the larger sizes. Shippers are anticipating bigger fruit to become more available as we move forward. This week, I expect to see market prices remain steady.

There are steady supplies of green onions from Mexico, and Domestic supplies are steady as well. The market is competitive on iced product but the iceless product prices vary. Quality is good with minimal yellow to brown discoloration of the tops.

As we start this week, kale supplies remain plentiful. The market is steady with competitive prices. Quality is excellent with little dehydration and yellowing.

This week starts out steady on this commodity with most shippers. Suppliers continue to have issues such as puffy heads, insect and mechanical damage. Temperatures in the growing regions have been good, overall. Supplies are expected to be good throughout the week. School business is expected to start up in August. This will create a demand that currently is lacking in the marketplace.

This market remains steady to begin the week. Due to a lack of demand and good supplies, expect stable pricing thru the middle of the week at a minimum. Romaine heart supplies are good, and in particular a few organic suppliers are offering sharp deals for volume typed orders, so don't be shy to ask about. Romaine, Green and red leaf continues to be heavy in availability. A few defects continue on leaf items. These defects include slight insect damage, as well as tip and fringe burn. The defects , however are minimal in comparison to past weeks.

The West Side supplies are adequate for the current demand. Some growers are packing all sizes including 15ct and a few 18ct while others are packing only 9ct. Quality out of the West Side is excellent with good sugar levels. The market is steady right now.

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 is done now too. Quality in the West Side is excellent. The market is steady right now.

Demand for Western Watermelon has curtailed. 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,30s,36 and 45s

Colossal and Super Colossal out of New Mexico are very limited to nonexistent. This has been caused by high heat during the growing season which did not allow the onions to size up. This looks to be the situation for the balance of their season. Jumbo's and mediums are in good supplies in all the colors (Yellow, Reds and whites) out of this growing area. Demand is good keeping the market firm but steady on jumbo's and smaller and slightly stronger on colossal and larger. Quality is being reported as good. California is getting extra demand as they have the Colossal and Super Colossal yellow onions. Quality is being reported as good on all colors and sizes. Demand is very good. Washington has started with some transplants and has started quoting yellows and reds. Sizing is good with quality being reported as fair on the transplants.

Transitions:
Washington has started in a light way with Idaho to start in the next couple of weeks.

California - Bartlett pears are steady on all sizes and continue to peak on 100/110/90s. The quality has been good. Crimson pears are also steady and they are peaking on half carton 45/40s but supplies are limited so expect them to remain firm. There are a few full carton Crimsons available as well. The quality has been good.
Washington - D'anjou pears are steady but supplies are very short and their 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 - Storage supplies are starting to wind down for the season with New Crop getting ready to start the first week of August. Some shippers should have storage crop into the middle or end of August. New crop has had excellent growing conditions up until this point and hopefully will stay good through harvest. Market is steady to slightly weaker with some deals being made on different sizes. Look for the market on storage crop to stay steady at these levels with New Crop demanding a premium. Quality is still holding up well on most of the storage crop.
Washington - New crop will start by the end of this week in a very light way just in time for the storage crop to finish up for the season. A few shippers finished with their storage crop the end of last week. Quality is still being reported as good on the storage crop. Market is firm but steady.
Colorado and Wisconsin - Supplies are winding quickly out of these two areas also with new crop scheduled to start up next week. Good demand has the market firm but steady.

Bakersfield California - supplies are short and most shippers are finished for the season. The shippers that have product are steady. The quality has been good.
Stockton California - reds, whites, and golds are all steady to slightly lower and all are peaking on A size. Baker whites and reds are limited but there are a few golds. They have good quality with good maturity.
Alabama - Red potatoes are steady and they are peaking on A-size. There are no creamers packed in Alabama. The quality is good.
North Carolina - reds and golds are steady but supplies are more limited in both colors. Whites supplies are very short. All colors are peaking on A-size and larger. The quality is fair to good.
Muleshoe Texas - red and gold potatoes are steady on all sizes. The quality has been good.
Missouri - they are steady on all sizes of red potatoes. The quality is reported as good.
Washington - eastern red and gold potatoes are steady and both are peaking on A-size. Bs and smaller are limited in both colors.

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.

Not much change in stone fruit this week. Peaches, nectarines and plums continue to be readily available in larger sizes. Smaller sizes (volume fill) fruit will remain limited all week. Typical of this time of year, we see a big push on tray pack 2 layer fruit with aggressive prices being offered on volume buys. However, as the weather starts to cool down and we approach the end of summer, we can expect to see more availability on smaller sized fruit for school business. Markets will continue to be steady this week. Future school business should be discussed now.

Overall tomato volume is light in the East. The transition from larger growing areas in northern Florida and South Carolina are slowly moving to more localized production. There are light volumes of rounds coming out of Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina with delayed harvests as weather during the growing cycle held fruit maturity back. Round and roma volumes will increase as more local deals come on board and current producers get further into harvests. Cherry tomatoes are steady and quality is preferred in the East. Grape tomatoes are very tight this week, only being available in a few pockets of production. By the end of the week prices should trend downward as production increases over the next several days with new operations starting in Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland bringing more tomatoes across varieties to the marketplace.

The tomato market in the west is stronger with supply shrinking this week. Central Mexico production has began to slow down simultaneously while Baja has been reduced to only the Northern area of production. As a result, vine-ripe and roma tomato volumes have slowed down. Growers are picking quickly to fill orders, so we’re seeing lighter color and less big fruit available. In California, mature green production is in full swing but they are experiencing alot of demand for eastern fruit where quality is shown to be better due to less heat exposure before harvest. Expect another week of higher prices until a new injection of fruit is made into the supply stream from Eastern programs. There are a few small grape tomato deals in California, but the majority of volume is coming out of Baja, where they are selling out daily. Cherry volume is also light where a majority of supply is still coming from the east.