The Source - June 8, 2015

New York has finished packing for the season.
Michigan is still packing Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Romes. The Red Romes and Red Delicious are still peaking on 100's and larger while the Jonathans and McIntosh are peaking on 100's and smaller. Red delicious and Red Romes are still the bulk of the Michigan volume. Availability is generally light.
Washington Red Delicious are still being quoted steady but the price-flex on volume orders of 80's and larger is still there. 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. 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 down as the end of the season approaches small Fujis are very limited. 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

This commodity has tightened up in all the growing regions Peruvian product can be loaded in Miami but the fob has risen six to seven dollars from last week. 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. Some regional fruit is available out of Georgia, Oregon. This gap period looks to remain through this week and possibly still short into next. 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 currently and availability out of Oregon as well. All areas are reporting good quality and this is a good time to be promoting fresh blueberries.

Limited supplies to start 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.

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. Overall quality is being reported as good.

Overall this market has remained steady with most suppliers. 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 up to the middle of this week, minimum.

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 firm as demand has picked up. Offers by shippers are minimal compared to last week as many suppliers have cleaned up inventories and expect supplies only to be moderate at best throughout the week. 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.

This market is steady, overall. The best deals continues 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 will begin production by mid-June. Small sizing continues to command a higher price. The quality down South continues to be strong.

Recent rain and hail in the Washington growing regions have turned the cherry market into a demand exceeds supply situation. Already light volume industry wide has been reduced further as the cull rate in the packing shed has reached as much as 25% of harvest. Despite this the overall quality being packed is excellent.

The lemon market continues to struggle with limited supplies and very good demand from all regions. Large lemons especially are very limited and the market on these looks to be stronger for the coming week. The market on the smaller fruit, while somewhat better supplied, will continue to be strong but steady.

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.

Late season Navels are nearly finished. The few Navels remaining are commanding a premium over the new crop Valencias. The Valencia market looks to continue to be about steady with adequate supplies. The smaller profile 113 and 138 choice fruit is more limited in volume and able to demand a slight premium. Quality is reported as excellent on the Val's.

The green seedless grape market is steady to lower as Mexico transitions into Sugarones as the primary variety. The increase in supply of this preferred variety has led to the Coachella market adjusting downward to be more competitive. Quality out of all regions continues to be very good.

The red seedless market is firming up as inventories out of Mexico clean up. While supplies are adequate on reds out of all areas the recent glut is disappearing. We continue to see very good quality shipping out of all regions.

This market has remained unchanged. Demand is minimal at best. 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 effected 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 firm. This commodity is expected to be stronger by the middle of the week. Common defects include Puffiness, insect damage and ribbing currently seen at harvesting. Weights on palletized lettuce are ranging from 42-46 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 steady to start the week. A pricing gap is occurring as some suppliers are better off than others. Demand is moderate and is expected to pick up by mid-week. 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 slightly below adequate volumes of cantaloupes currently with the peak size being 12's. Good quality looks to continue for the next few weeks as the desert gets past its peak production. Very nice quality is coming out of the desert currently but a possible storm is looming which could disrupt quality temporarily. The market has climbed up 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 is looming in the growing areas which can temporarily hamper harvesting and quality.

California and New Mexico are the main shipping points for onions currently. There are some light supplies of Yellow onions coming Texas, which will last for about two more weeks. Yellow Onion supplies out of California are peaking on Mediums to Jumbos depending on which Shipper you are dealing with. Supers and colossal Yellow onions are limited in supply out of both California and New Mexico. Red onions supplies out of California are limited with building supplies out of New Mexico. Market is steady on Yellow and White onions out of both growing areas. Red onion market is slightly stronger the start of this week. Washington and Idaho both have all their onions in the ground and are looking good for their upcoming season. Weather has been idea so far this year.

Washington continues to ship D'anjous and a few red pears . 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.
On the import side we still 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 and 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 potato market is firm but steady on 70 count and larger with good demand. The smaller potatoes, 80 count and smaller, have good demand with a slightly firmer market. The increase in demand on the smaller size is due to customer switching from the higher price larger cartons to these sizes. Quality is still being reported as good. Washington has a steady market with moderate to light demand on most sizes and packs. Quality is being reported as good.
Colorado and Wisconsin potato market is steady on all sizes. Quality is being reported as good.
Weather has been ideal out of Idaho and Washington for next year's crop which might start a week or so earlier than normal. Idaho normal new crop start up is the end of July start of August. Washington usually starts up the middle of July.

Alerts:
POTATOES:
Idaho large cartons 40 - 60 count in a demand exceeds supply situation.

Bakersfield, California is packing all colors and they are all peaking on A-size. California reds and whites are steady with good availability with the exception of premiums and Bakers. Golds are steady for now but the volume is light and they will be higher by the end of the week. The quality has been good.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds and golds and the markets for both colors are steady. Both colors are peaking on A-size. The quality has been good.
Pearsall, Texas red potatoes are slightly lower and they are also peaking on A-size. The quality has been good.
Northern Florida (Hastings) is packing all colors. 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 deals available. Gold supplies are light and the market is high and strong. Some supplies suppliers are reporting only fair to poor quality. The Florida red and white quality has been good.

The peach and nectarine markets are showing some downward motion as volume increases, especially on the larger size profiles. Demand continues to be good but not exceptional. Plums too are adjusting downward on some sizes with just average demand and increasing supplies. Apricots and pluots are about steady with quality continuing to be very good on adequate supplies.

Rounds - The growers in Palmetto/Ruskin region are finishing up for the season. The early planting heat caused the product to mature up a couple weeks. Which caused the jump in supply a couple of weeks ago. This is also the reason for the now scarce product. Florida will continue to have limited supplies on all sizes until the northern region finds its stride. Although there is some availability north it will not be in full swing until the beginning of this week.

Romas - The Romas are falling in line with the rounds. The season is winding down and transitioning to the north. Prices have also risen and availability will continue to fall until the northern region picks it up at the beginning of this week. Quality will become more of issue as well.

Cherry/Grape - The cherry and grape markets have remained steady for the past week. Product in the north has come on and is finding its stride. Pricing should hold steady for both grape and cherry tomatoes.

Rounds - Product in Mexico is available but may tighten with Florida products rising prices and shrinking availability. Mexico production will continue to increase and quality is good so the market should hold steady. Central California product has become available but is just starting and some may be hesitant to be the first. California desert product has finished up and is expected to pull the plug.

Romas - Northern Mexico product is of good quality and availability. Availability should remain steady with additional growers coming on. California fruit will start in a few weeks in the South.

Cherry/Grape - Northern Mexico product availability is good and quality is good on grape toms. This product is expected to take us to the end of the year. With the east transitioning and Nogales finishing up this region will be leaned upon heavily. Central Mexico's product going into Texas is consistent and the quality is good. Look for the market to remain steady to a slight increase due to increases in demand.