The Source - June 22, 2015

Michigan is down to packing just Red Delicious now. The Reds continue to peak on 100s and larger and supplies of small fruit remain short. The quality has been fair due to lighter pressures.
Washington Red Delicious are being quoted as steady but the price-flex for 888s and larger is definitely still available. Most packers are still peaking on 88s and larger in the premium and Washington extra #1 grades and have limited supplies of 100s and smaller. Golden Delicious are mostly steady on all sizes. 125 & 138 and smaller Goldens are still more limited than the other sizes and are priced at a premium. Granny-Smith are mostly steady and still peaking on 72s and larger. Granny 100s and smaller remain limited. 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 remain very short. Galas are steady and are still peaking on 88/100s. 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 getting close.
Imported Cripps-Pink (Pink Ladys) are still available on both coasts and the markets are steady. They are still peaking on 70s and 80s.

This market is softer as supplies out of the Baja region of Mexico has picked up. The pack sizes are heavier to large sizing on Mexico product. This is where the best deals can be had. Jumbos are available as well out of Mexico. Salinas' production is expected to last another week or two then be finished. Pricing is higher from this region. Peruvian product is available in Miami, heavy to standard sizing. Overall, the quality has reported to be good in all of the growing areas.

We are past peak volume for the season and lower volumes are beginning to come out of the fields. California harvest volume dipped last week, but will pick up a little this week. Expect to dip down again next week and hold fairly steady through July before gently declining thereafter. Still peaking on 60s, with good supplies on 48s. Very good demand is keeping supplies of 48's and larger fairly snug. Quality and flavor are both excellent.

Mexican production remains good and looks to stay this way for the next couple of weeks. Look for supplies to dip by 25 percent after the first week of July. Smaller fruit is limited coming out of Mexico and we are see some upward market pressure on 60's and 70's.

Blackberries have been very limited since last week as Mexico’s
season ended and the central / southern districts of CA continue to
decline. Salinas / Watsonville area is not putting out enough volume
currently to offset the shortage created from the other regions declining
volumes. We expect to be short throughout this week and the
demand to remain steady with good markets for quality CA fruit. There
is some better availability out Georgia and out of Oregon if you can
use these areas. Some quality issues being reported with blackberries
are red cell, soft berries and occasional mold. Expect for quality
to clean up as we continue the transition into the new areas of CA and
volume picks up.

Supply is very good with multiple areas now producing good volumes
and quality. Demand has been steady. We are shipping fruit out
of California, Georgia, Oregon, North Carolina, Washington, British
Columbia and New Jersey began picking today. These new areas
will continue to increase with volume weekly, as we move throughout
the month of June. All areas are reporting good quality and this is an
excellent time to be promoting fresh blueberries.

Limited supplies expected throughout this week as we continue transition
into California fruit and Mexico continues to decline to its seasonal
end. Quality has been reported as good overall. Market is steady to
higher over last week, demand is good. Lighter numbers forecasted
for the week and I expect we will see shortages on a day to day basis.
The Watsonville/Salinas region will continue to increase in volume
weekly throughout the month of June. Some fruit available is out of
South Carolina if you have the option for loading this area.

Salinas and Watsonville are the main growing/shipping regions for
California strawberries currently. Several shippers ended their Santa
Maria fresh production early due to the decreasing markets after Memorial
Day and the good pricing for freezer/juice contracts. Demand
is good this week with many retail ads in place taking a good percentage
of available fruit and keeping demand steady, possibly continuing
to strengthen and keeping supply on the short side as we move
throughout this weekend. Warm temperatures in the recent week(s)
brought on ripe, red fruit. Fruit is smaller in size due to it ripening before
the fruit has an opportunity to grow into mature size. Fruit flavor is
good and very sweet currently. Some quality issues to look out for will
be soft spots, over-ripeness and bruising.

Excellent supplies exists on bunched product as well as crowns. Promote as much as possible this week. Next week this commodity will firm up with many suppliers. Crowns continue to be abundant. The main production continues to be out of the Salinas Valley. The Southern California region will have decent production as well. Production out of Mexico looks to be steady all week. Texas could be an option for some customers. The quality has been stronger in this region.

Bakersfield crop is now in full swing on production. Weather has been warm and size is coming on and we're seeing much better production of Jumbo carrots.

This market is down slightly. Production is up as demand for the most part is minimal across the country. The quality overall has been favorable with slight reports of spotting. This is minimal however. Insect damage is light. Southern California and Salinas continue to be the main regions for production of this commodity. Expect moderate to good supplies for the week. There will be price gaps among the different shippers in the Salinas valley, so please keep in mind.

Product availability is strong, especially in the Salinas Valley. This, along with Oxnard and Santa Maria production has made this commodity readily available. Small size availability has increased and this is reflective of lower pricing with most suppliers. The best deals continue to be with twenty-four count packs. Supplies, it should be noted are much less in Oxnard, but product can be purchased in this region if needed. Good quality is being reported from all the regions.

The cherry market continues to be strong with limited supplies and very good demand. Rainiers are in the second week of their peak volume. We expect Rainier supplies will began to lighten up by the end of this week.

Crop is peaking on 140s and smaller. Demand is exceeding supplies on all sizes and grades of fruit. Very good demand and drought conditions in growing areas means production of less fruit and no size growth are the major factors for the demand exceed conditions.

Alerts:
Lemons:
Demand exceeds supply. Summertime demand and lighter production caused by the California drought. Expect lighter supplies throughout the summer and into the fall.

The lime market is perking up from last weeks levels. The prices remain nearly the same still on all sizes whereas in the past the spread has been several dollars. Growers continue harvesting less due to low market conditions. Lower prices have helped spur demand on all sizes. The overall quality is very good on the crop that is being harvested. Growers are starting to get into old crop limes now. We should start seeing thinner skin with lighter color in some lots coming up. Scattered rain showers are in the forecast over the next few weeks in the growing area of Veracruz Mexico.

California Navel crop is coming to it's end. Still a few left and peaking on 72s/56s. California Valencia oranges are going in good volume on 72s, 88s, 113s, 138's. Quality on Valencias is very good.

The green seedless grape market is showing signs of firming up. The Mexican and Coachella regions are both approaching the end of their harvest season. With the San Joaquin Valley still several weeks away from starting we are expecting to see a small gap in supplies. Many suppliers are currently stockpiling inventories to help them get through this.

Seedless red grapes are now shipping out of Arvin. Quality is reported as excellent with mostly large fruit available; although in limited quantities to start the week. The number of shippers and overall supply should ramp up dramatically by the end of the week. The start of the harvest out of the Arvin district has pushed demand and price down on the Mexican fruit. Nogales is attempting to clean up before availability out of the California growing regions pushes the market down any further. The Coachella fruit is still showing excellent quality. Overall supply out of Coachella is dropping as this region also approaches the end of it's season. This has resulted in a firming up of prices on red grapes out of this region.

This market is flat. This pattern does not look to change all week as supplies are expected to be strong from Mexico. Supplies exceed demand. The storms that have hit in the Baja region did not affected this crop. 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 steady to begin the week. Supplies are expected to be moderate to light throughout this week. Some defects being reported include puffiness, insect damage and ribbing. This is showing up during harvesting. Weights on palletized lettuce are ranging from 38-44 pounds. Salinas and Santa Maria are the two main growing regions at this time. Production in Santa Maria has been on the light side, compared to Salinas' production. This will continue throughout the week.

This market is firm on all leaf items. Chopped romaine continues to show pinking as raw material continues to be less in strength than the norm. High temperatures in the growing are the main reasons for this. The carton product will have some fringe burn, mildew and insect damage. The weights are ranging from 29-34 pounds. Romaine hearts continue to be in a demand exceeds supply situation. Escalated pricing is in effect. Fringe burn and insect damage is occurring on red and green leaf as well. Butter supplies are light to moderate.

The desert has good demand for melons right now and the market is up a little from last week. Overall supplies are not as heavy as they were during their peak production a few weeks ago and currently 9's are very hard to come by. The peak size is split between 12 and 15ct. Overall quality is good with some growers in the Brawley, Holtville and El Centro areas. Growers in these areas are experiencing 50% lower yields than expected due to a crop disease called Fuserium, brought on by the past rains followed by excessive heat and humidity. The condition was aggravated further by the lack of wind which would have dried out the fields. The Maricopa area is not reporting this issue. The "west side" is set to start the week of July 6th.

The desert supplies are steady so far this week. The domestic dews have excellent quality and are commanding a premium compared to the product from Mexico. The quality on Mexican and domestic dews is very nice and they all have high sugar contents as well. The peak size is 6ct on the domestic dews coming in right now. Supplies out of Mexico remain at low levels with 6s and 8s being the main sizes coming in.

The Yellow onion market is steady out of both California and New Mexico the start of this week. Red onion supplies out of New Mexico are gapping with a few growers this week which has this market climbing. California supplies are steady. Medium Yellows out of both growing areas are limited and are in a demand exceeds supplies situation. Quality is being reported as good. Walla Walla and Vidalia Sweets are available with an active market with the 4th of July pull going in full swing.

Washington continues to ship D'anjou pears. Most suppliers have finished with red pears. The D'anjous are steady on all sizes and are still peaking on US#1 80-100s. Most packers are out of all sizes in the fancy grade. Washington will have D'anjou pears through July.
On the import side we still have Chilean Packhams and Bosc. Both the Packhams and the Bosc are steady to lower. The Packhams are still peaking on 100s while the Bosc are heavier to 100/110s.

Transitions:
California Bartletts will start the week of July 6th.

Idaho - Market on 40 through 70 count are starting to make a downward correction due to lighter demand and better supplies. Smaller potatoes 80 count and smaller are steady at low levels. New crop potatoes are right around the corner and growers know that they need to get out of their storage potatoes before the new crop. New crop will start up around the end of July beginning of August. Quality is good to fair currently.
Washington - Market is steady on all sizes and packs. We could start to see this market come off slightly due to the Idaho market adjusting downward. New crop will start up the middle of July. Quality is good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - Market is steady on all sizes and packs. Quality is being reported as good.

Bakersfield, California continues to all colors. All colors are peaking on A-size and the markets are steady for all are mostly steady although some are higher on red B's. Both the reds and golds are short on premium and baker size. The quality has been good.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds and golds and the markets are steady but the red availability is very light. Both colors continue to peak on A-size and this is there last week of packing. The quality has been good.
North Carolina has started packing whites and they are peaking on A-size. The quality is being reported as good. They will have reds and golds next week depending on maturity.

Transitions:
Alabama will pack red potatoes at the end of this week depending on maturity.

Texas will pack reds at the end of this week depending on maturity as well.

Peaches and nectarines continue to peak on the larger tray pack sizes with excellent quality and supplies. Demand continues to be only fair at best; holding prices down. Plums and Pluots are readily available now in a range of sizes and varieties. Quality overall is excellent with good demand. The apricot market has moderated somewhat but continues to be good with good quality and sizing peaking on the 80 to 88, 2 layer packs.

Rounds - Northern Florida has good quality and volume but is starting its decline. Volume will lighten up a bit toward the end of the week. Weather in the region is still a variable with possible thunderstorms and rain. Demand remains low/steady and is expected to remain that way for the rest of the week.

Grape / Cherry - Cherries in the region are steady now with some volume. This should help the market settle a bit more. Grapes are on the decline in volume and quality is fair.

Romas - Product should remain with good quality and volume through this week. The product will be starting to decline in volume starting next week.

Rounds - Mexico production is still increasing and quality remains good. Market will remain steady through this week. Central California product is available and at good prices, look to make some deals.

Roma - Northern Mexico product is holding steady in volume and quality. Availability should remain steady with additional growers still coming on.

Cherry / Grape - Product availability is good and quality is good. Central Mexico's product going into Texas is still consistent and the quality is good. The market should hold steady through this week as well.