The Source - June 10, 2015

Michigan is still packing Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Romes. The Red Romes and Red Delicious continue to peak on 100's and larger while the Jonathans and McIntosh are peaking on 100's and smaller. Availability is generally light for all varietys.
Washington Red Delicious are steady but the price-flex for volume orders of 80's and larger is still available. Most packers are still peaking on 88's and larger in the premium and Washington extra #1 grades and are short on 100's and smaller. Golden Delicious are steady on all sizes. 125 and smaller Goldens are still more limited than the other sizes and some suppliers are pricing them at a premium. Granny-Smith are steady and are still peaking on 72's and larger. Granny 100's and smaller remain very short in all grades. Fujis are steady and continue to peak on the larger sizes. Fuji volume is low as the end of the season approaches and small Fujis are especially short. Galas are steady and are still peaking on 88/100's. The Galas have better availability in the smaller sizes than most other varieties but the Gala volume is also down as the end of the season is closing in. Most other Washington varietals are finished for the season.

Product availability continues to tighten up in all the growing regions. Peruvian product can be loaded in Miami but the fob has risen in price. Mexican production is gapping. The storm that has hit Mexico has not affected the asparagus crop. A production gap is occurring, however and it will last one to two weeks at a minimum. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on eleven pound cases for Mexican grass. California production is light and expected to run another two weeks with limited availability. Jumbo packs in all the growing regions will be scarce.

California growers continue to harvest good volume. They are peaking on 60’s and smaller, with 48’s and larger still limited in harvest. We hope to see crop fill in with a broader range of sizing as we move through June. Overall volume of this year’s California crop looks to be lighter than first projected due to the drought. Quality and flavor are both great for this time of the season.

Mexico is over 90% harvested for their season. Good supplies continue to come in, and still heavy to 60’s and smaller. The 48 count avocados are showing improvement in availability. Quality and flavor are at their peak.

Supplies are limited as California is not producing enough volume yet to compensate for the decline of Mexican fruit as we transition into domestic product. Some regional fruit is available out of Georgia, Oregon. This gap period looks to remain through this week and possibly still short into next week. Mixed reports on quality varying by regions.

Supply is very good with multiple areas now producing good volumes and quality. We are shipping fruit out of California, Georgia, North Carolina. All areas are reporting good quality and this is a good time to be promoting fresh blueberries. New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia are all slotted to increase with volume in the coming weeks as we head throughout June.

Somewhat limited supplies expected throughout this week as we continue to transition out of
Mexican fruit and into California fruit. Volume and demand are fairly flat so we have not seen any major shortages to start this week even with the lighter numbers forecasted. Quality has been good. California will continue to increase in volumes as we head through the month of June.

Supply is varying across shippers this week. Some are in better shape than others after several ended their fresh market Santa Maria season early this year. Demand is moderate to good and focusing on shipping best quality out of the northern districts. We are expecting warm
temperatures in the Salinas/Watsonville area with daily highs reaching into the mid 80s to low 90s for the front side of this week. This will show with smaller, ripe red fruit being packed. Fruit is sweet and good flavor present. Some quality issues still being reported with overripe, soft spots and bruising, although it has improved over previous weeks. Still some reports of white shoulders as well. Most 1# clams are ranging from 17-22 in Santa Maria and 12-17 in the Salinas/Watsonville district. Overall quality is being reported as good.

Pictures from Santa Maria strawberry inspection

This market is steady, overall. Crowns continue to have better availability than bunched product and offers are being listened to by multiple shippers. The main production continues to be out of the Salinas Valley. Crown availability should be good throughout the week. Bunched product is available as well, but with less production compared to crowns. The Southern California region will have decent production as well. Production in Mexico looks to be steady for the rest of the week. Texas could be an option for some customers. Freight savings is the biggest attraction compared to California product.

The market is more favorable this week with better supplies of Jumbo Carrots. Bakersfield is the main growing region. Sizing is getting better and this week’s weather will reach triple digits. This will definitely increase size.

This market is active with most suppliers. Overall, the quality is good with only slight discoloration occurring. Insect damage is minimal. Southern California and Salinas continue to be the main regions for production of this commodity. Better deals are available in nine counts. Expect production to be light all week. Next week will not look to change much in terms of availability.

This market continues on a steady path. The best deals continue to be with twenty-four count packs and multiple shippers are listening to offers for this pack size. Loading in Oxnard/Santa Maria continues to give the best fob price. Salinas has begun production and within two weeks, there will be plenty of product out of the Salinas Valley. Small sizing continues to command a higher price. The quality down South continues to be strong.

The cherry market continues to strengthen in the face of strong demand and light supplies. Red cherries are especially short of meeting demand at the moment. The Rainier cherries are coming into their first peak volume of the season and are slightly easier to access than the reds. This situation looks to continue through the near term. Quality on the fruit is reported as excellent on all varieties.

The lemon market continues to be demand exceeds. The D2 crop is over 60% picked and demand for all sizes is increasing as we move into the summer months. This situation will continue throughout the summer.

The lime market continues to come down on the larger sizes and looks to level out this week. The smaller sizes are holding pretty steady with a hint of upside in the prices from some shippers. Supplies are increasing on larger sizes now and continue to decrease slightly on smaller sizes mainly due to the low market. Growers are not harvesting the smaller sizes due to low market conditions. Lower prices have helped spur demand on all sizes. The overall quality is very good on the new crop that is being harvested.

The Valencia market is steady with good demand and adequate supplies. Availability of the smaller choice grade fruit is an issue with some suppliers as they are peaking on the 56's to 72's. However, there appears to be enough of the smaller 113's - 138's to meet current demand.

The green seedless market has steadied out with good supplies of Sugarones available out of Mexico and Coachella. The Coachella market has dropped down to remain more competitive with the Mexican market. Demand is adequate to keep up with current supplies in both regions. This market looks to be unchanged moving into next week.

The red seedless market remains unchanged with good supplies of flames in all growing regions with steady to slightly improved demand. Quality at harvest continues to be good although we have some reports of age related issues (mold) showing up in some fruit. This appears to be the result of the recent glut in inventories more than any issues in the field. Coachella is rapidly finishing the Flame harvest and is moving into Scarlets in the coming week. Early reports on this fruit are showing outstanding quality.

This market is steady. Demand is minimal. Most of the production for this commodity is being produced from the Baja region of Mexico. The storms that have hit in the Baja region have not affected this crop. The rains in essence hit other parts of Baja. All sizing is available. Light supplies are being harvested in Salinas. The heavier abundance of product is coming in small and medium size packs.

This market is active. This commodity is expected to gain strength for the rest of the week. Common defects include Puffiness, insect damage and ribbing currently seen at harvesting. Weights on palletized lettuce are ranging from 38-44 pounds. Salinas and Santa Maria are the two main growing regions at this time. Salinas is the area where most of the production is occurring.

The romaine market is firm. A pricing gap is occurring as some suppliers are better off than others. Demand is stronger overall in the marketplace. Quality issues continue to include tip burn, insect damage, wind burn, decay and mildew. These are common defects with this commodity, especially in the Salinas Valley. The weights will range between 30-35 pounds. These same issues are also evident in green and red leaf items. Supplies are expected to be moderate throughout the week. There continues to be gaps in pricing, much like romaine.

The desert is harvesting below adequate volumes of cantaloupes currently with the peak size being 12's. Acceptable quality is coming out of the desert currently but the storm has caused muddy conditions so some lots are coming in with a little dirt on them. The market has jumped up considerably from previous levels and looks to continue the trend for the next few days. The "west side" is set to start the first week of July.

Supplies out of Mexico are at low levels with 6's and 8's being the main sizes coming in. The desert has decent supplies currently. The domestic dews are excellent quality and are commanding a premium to the product from Mexico. The quality on Mexican and domestic dews are very nice and they all have high sugar contents too. The peak size is 6's on the domestic dews coming in right now. The dew market is steady on all domestic and Mexican dews with a hint of upside in the market. A storm went through the growing areas which temporarily hampered harvesting.

New Mexico and Central California are the main source for new crop onions for the next couple of months. Both of the growing areas have moderate supplies of Jumbo Yellow with limited supplies of Super Colossal and Colossal onions yellow. Market is strong and looks to continue through the balance of this month. Red onions are limited out of both growing areas with a firming market. New Mexico did receive some moderate rain on Monday which kept some of the growers out of their fields till today. The forecast is calling for 80 % chance of rain again over the weekend. If this happens it will interrupt supplies for the front part of next week. We will keep you posted. Next year's storage crop onions have been planted across all regions. Washington is forecasted to start in late July followed by Idaho the front part of August.

Washington continues to ship D'anjous and a few red pears, the markets for both are steady. The D'anjous are peaking on US#1 80-100's while fancy-grade supplies are limited in all sizes. The red pears are peaking on 50/55 half-cartons but are almost finished for the season. The markets for both colors are steady. Washington will have D'anjous through July and will have red pears through next week.
For imports we have Chilean Packhams and Bosc and Argentinian Packhams and Bosc. The markets for all are steady and the Chilean fruit remains cheaper on all sizes in both varieties. The Chilean Packhams are peaking on 100's while the Argentinian are peaking on 90's and larger. The Chilean Bosc are heavier to 100/110's while the Argentinian Bosc are producing mostly 90's and larger.
California is set to start packing new crop Bartlett pears the week of July 6th.

Idaho - Good demand for large cartons remains, holding a premium price, while supplies remain very tight due to lack of size in the current storage crop. Supplies of Consumers and 80 count through 6oz #2's continue to be good with pricing trading at low levels. Quality has been good. Some storages are starting to report light internal black and pressure bruise starting to show up. New crop Idaho potatoes have all been planted, and weather has been great. Rows are beginning to close, creating potential for an earlier-than-normal harvest.
Washington - Demand and supply is moderate, which is keeping the market on all sizes and packs steady. Quality is still good. New Crop potatoes are in full bloom currently and are looking good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - Market is steady out of these areas on all sizes and packs. Quality is being reported as good.

Alerts:
Potatoes:
Idaho large cartons remain very tight due to lack of size in the current storage crop.

Bakersfield, California continues packing all colors. California reds and whites are both peaking on A-size and both colors are steady with good availability other than premium and Baker reds. Golds are steady and still peaking on A-size. The quality has been good.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds and golds and the markets for both are steady. Both colors continue to peak on A-size. The quality has been good.
Pearsall, Texas is packing red potatoes and they are steady on all sizes. The quality has been good.
Northern Florida (Hastings) is packing mostly reds and whites with only light supplies of golds. The reds are steady on all sizes and peaking on A's. The white market is being quoted as steady but there is good availability and some volume dealing. Gold supplies are very light and that market is strong. Some supplies suppliers are reporting only fair to poor quality on their golds. The Florida red and white quality has been good.

Increasing supplies of large peaches and nectarines are pulling this market down. Quality is excellent but light demand and increasing volume at harvest are being felt, especially in the pricing of the larger tray packs. The market on plums and pluots are steady but we are beginning to see a little easing on the pricing of plums. We attribute this to the slight increase in numbers harvested as well as greater quantities of the larger sizes. The apricot market has strengthened as we are gapping between varieties. This will be a short term issue as growers will be moving into the next varieties to harvest over the next few weeks.

Rounds - The growers in Palmetto/Ruskin region have finished the season. There is availability in north Florida for about another 2 weeks. Just enough time to bridge the gap between southern Florida and the eastern shore crops. The eastern crop is set to start in a couple weeks. The price in northern Florida has increased and looks like it will stay that way through its short season. The unpredictable rains are also playing a role on pricing and availability.

Romas - The season is complete in the south and transitioning to the north. The rains have slowed the volume a bit but not enough to make any market swings. Romas should remain steady in volume and in price.

Cherry/Grape - The cherry and grape markets will remain steady for the week. Product in the north is steady and quality on grape toms is good. Cherry tomatoes have seen some quality issues.

Rounds - Not much change on the west. Mexico production will continue to increase and quality is good so the market should hold steady. Central California product is available and at good prices but it is still early in the season and some are slow to transition. The product report in Central California shows good size and quality.

Romas - Northern Mexico product is still showing strong . Availability should remain steady with additional growers coming on. California fruit will start in a couple weeks in the South.

Cherry/Grape - Northern Mexico product availability is steady. With the east transitioning and Nogales finished this region will be leaned upon heavily for the next couple weeks. Central Mexico's product going into Texas is still consistent and the quality is good. The market had a slight increase due to demand but should remain steady through next week.