The Source - May 11, 2015

New York continues is still packing a few Red Delicious, Red Romes and McIntosh. They have finished with Empires. All varieties are peaking on 100's and larger. The quality has been good. They expect top pack until approximately June 6th.
Michigan is still packing Ida-reds, Jonagolds, Jonathans, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Red Romes. The Red Romes, Red Delicious, and Jonagolds continue to peak on 88's and larger. The Jonathans and Ida-reds have better availability on 100's and smaller. The Empires are finished for the season. Availability is light for all varieties as the end of the season approaches. The quality has been good.
Washington Red Delicious remain steady. Most packers are peaking on 88's and larger in the premium and Washington extra #1 grades and will discount for volume. Small reds remain relatively short. Golden Delicious are steady on all sizes. The Goldens remain fairly evenly sized but 125's and 138's are relatively short. Granny-Smith are steady and are peaking on 64/72's. 100 and smaller size Granny-smith are very limited. Fujis are steady to higher and are peaking on the larger sizes. Small Fujis remain extremely short. Galas are also steady to higher and are still peaking on 88/100's. The Galas have better availability in the smaller sizes than most other varieties. Honeycrisp are still available but supplies are extremely short and the market is high and strong. Opals, Jazz, Jonagolds, Pink Lady's, and a few other varietals are still available as well but the varietal supplies are very limited.

Peruvian production has picked up. All sizing is available, with the majority coming in standard and large size packs. The best deals available are loading direct out of Florida. Loading in Southern California is an option as well. Mexican production is moderate in production. Demand has slowed down now that the Mother's day pull is over. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on eleven pound cases for Mexican as well as California product. Currently, twenty-eight pound cases are not being packed out of the regions already mentioned.

California growers are harvesting good volume. They are peaking on 60's and smaller, with 48's and larger still limited in harvest. We'll see crop fill in with a broader range of sizing as we move through the month. Overall volume of this year's California crop looks to be lighter than first projected due to the drought. Quality and flavor are both very good.

Mexico is over 75% harvested for their season. Good supplies continue to come in, and still heavy to 60's and smaller. 48's and larger remain tight, but are showing some slight improvement. Quality and flavor are at their peak.

Demand and market remain steady. California blackberries began out of Santa Maria with light availability last week and will increase weekly. This product is being sold at a premium over Mexican. Overall production has declined out of Central Mexico. Some red cell is showing up in the Mexican product. Minimal availability out of Salinas/Watsonville.

Demand and market are both steady. FL and GA production is declining and NC will begin to increase over the next weeks. CA central valley should be peaking this week. Central Mexico and Baja continue on the decline as well. Fruit quality has been good across all regions, sizing has varied. Pack sizes limited by loading area, very few 4.4oz clams being packed, mostly larger packs.

Demand and market remain steady. Central MX and Oxnard have peaked. Salinas / Watsonville and Santa Maria will continue to increase as we head through May although these area's availability will be light until end of May. Quality has been good.

Demand remains very good and market remains steady to start this week. With the rain that came at the end of last week, we expect to see some water related quality issues showing up in the packs by middle/end of this week. Availability looks to be somewhat limited all the way through the Memorial Day pull. Continued cool weather in the growing regions has slowed the fruit from coming on and coloring up. Also, we are looking at the possibility of more rain by middle/end of this week. Daily forecasts for below average temperatures, low clouds and fog with drizzle.

This market is stronger on crowns. The main production is occurring in the Salinas Valley. Many suppliers are expecting supplies to be tighter by the middle of the week. Bunched product is moderate but demand has moved to the crown side. The problems with knuckling and branching continue with bunched product. Santa Maria has light to moderate supplies. Production in Mexico is moderate at best and heavier to crowns.

California desert crop is going well. Size is only fair coming out of the fields. Jumbo size remains snug.

This market is active with all suppliers. There is a gap in production that will continue for two weeks minimum with most growers. Escalated pricing will be in effect all this week and next. Quality issues continue to be reported with irregular size heads and slight discoloration seen upon arrival. Supplies are expected to be on the light side for the entire week with all shippers. Demand exceeds supply.

Alerts:
Cauliflower supplies will be scarce for 2 weeks.

This market is firm with most shippers. Production has not begun in Salinas as of yet. Production is expected in mid-June. Smaller sizing overall is tighter in availability. Loading in Oxnard/Santa Maria continues to give the best fob price. Florida has finished production. The quality overall is being reported to be good in terms of sizing and texture. Loading in Salinas for this commodity will cost extra money due to the transportation fee from the Oxnard region tacked onto the fob price.

The cherry market has adjusted down as steady demand and much better volume have not been enough to keep the coolers clean. We expect to run at peak volume now through the Lodi/Stockton deal and into Washington. We are still peaking on the 10 to 10.5 row and with discounts being given to volume orders in these sizes.

Size curve is switching, crop is peaking on 140's and smaller. Lack of size growth, is lightening the supplies on 115's and larger fruit. Demand is exceeding supplies on 165's and larger fruit. Very good springtime demand and drought conditions in growing areas are a major factor for the demand exceed conditions.

The lime market has come down on the smaller sizes a little bit more from last weeks levels while the larger sizes are holding pretty steady. Supplies continue increasing on smaller sizes and decreasing slightly on larger sizes which will continue for several days. The previous forecast of lower overall supplies from April through mid May has held true to date on larger sizes but smaller sizes have increased in volume. Lower prices have helped spur demand especially on smaller sizes. The overall quality is good on the new crop that is being harvested.

California Navel crop is dropping off and peaking on 72's/56's. California Valencia oranges are going. Labor to pick the fruit has become an issue now with the labor force being spilt with the stone fruit harvest going as well. Demand is exceeding supplies on smaller fruit 113's and 138's. Quality on Valencias is very good, color is nice and brix are 10.5-12.00 average.

Green grapes are now readily available out of Mexico. While the Mexican green seedless deal is still predominantly in the Perlette's; Coachella is coming in with light supplies of the Sugarones. We are seeing the green grape market out of Mexico adjust downward with better volume. The Coachella deal has also moderated slightly but is still maintaining a premium price as compared to Mexico due in part to the preferred variety (Sugarones) as well as the lighter supplies.

The red grape market is split as well; with Mexico coming into heavier volume than the Coachella deal. Quality is excellent out of both regions. Sizing is running heavy to medium / large to large fruit with little of the extra large available in either district. These markets will continue to adjust down in the coming week with supplies, especially out of Mexico, increasing daily.

This market is steady with most suppliers. Demand is off. Most of the production for this commodity is coming out of the Baja region of Mexico. Good supplies are expected out of this region all week. 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 softer with most suppliers. The gaps in pricing have closed considerably as more shippers are looking for business to start the week. The Salinas Valley continues to produce the bulk of lettuce supplies with Southern California helping out. Local production has been occurring throughout the U.S. which is creating surplus product out of California. The weights are ranging from 41-47 pounds. Issues include ribbing, insect damage and rusting from California production.

The romaine market overall has remained unchanged. The complaints continue to be fringe burn and insects seen upon arrivals. The weather has been cooler so along with the extra spraying by growers, the issues of bugs should be minimal. These issues are also with green and red leaf items. Weights on romaine are averaging 32-36 pounds. Green and red leaf continue to be very light in availability with all suppliers. Both of these commodities are on escalated pricing and will be tight in availability all week. Demand exceeds supply.

Cantaloupe supplies are continuing to decrease regarding offshore melons and are expected to finish by the end of next week. The desert crop started first week of May with supplies increasing each week. Nogales supplies are almost finished for the season. Cantaloupe sizing overall from all areas is lighter on small sizes and more plentiful on larger sizes. Arrivals of offshore melons on the west coast are virtually finished. Demand is good but increasing domestic supplies has brought the market down a little from last week's levels. Quality is good on all lopes with the domestic being the best.

Offshore honeydew supplies continue to remain lighter than previous weeks and will be finished before the end of this month. Some offshore shippers have finished for the season. Supplies out of Mexico are heavy right now with good volume on all sizes. The Mexican supplies are taking up the lowering volume of offshore dews. Demand is not very good on offshore dews due to lower quality. The peak size is 6's on both coasts. The desert has started in a small way with volumes coming on slowly. Quality has been good overall with the Mexican dews being very nice and having high sugar contents too. The dew market is steady to slightly lower right now with deals being made on offshore product.

Onion market is steady on all color and sizes out of Southern California, Texas and this will be the last week out of Idaho and Washington. Quality is excellent out of California and good out Texas and Idaho. Washington quality is fair. New Mexico and Huron, California onion shippers will start harvesting the end of this month. I see the market staying steady till the front part of June.

Washington is shipping D'anjou pears and red pears and the markets for both are steady. The D'anjous are peaking on US#1 80-100's and the supplies of fancy grade fruit are limited. The red pears will be available through May and supplies are also light.
We are limited to Chilean pears only right now. Chilean Packhams are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 100's. They are of good quality and are peaking on. Chilean Bosc are steady as well and are heavier to 100/110's.

Idaho - The supply situation on 40-60 count potatoes are still in a demand exceeds supply situation. This will continue till new crop starts up the end of July the start of August. Supplies of 70 -80 count have very good demand with a firm market. Good supplies of 90-120 count potatoes with a steady to slightly weaker market. Quality is still good.
Washington - is the only major potato producing state with large cartons (40-60 count). Markets are steady. Quality is good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - has hit some slightly larger storage potatoes this week. I feel this will be short term and we will see the larger cartons tighten up as they get through these storages by next week. Market is steady. Quality is good.

Bakersfield, California continues to pack all colors. Reds, golds, and whites are peaking on A-size and there are more premiums and bakers available. The quality has been good.
South Florida is still packing all colors but the availability is light as they are approaching the end of the season. Golds and whites remain limited and the reds are peaking on A-size. The quality on all colors has been good.
Northern Florida (Hastings) is packing all colors. The market for all is steady with the exception of Red A's which are higher. The size-profile is heavy to A-size for all colors.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds. They have A, B, and C cartons available with very few #2's and they are peaking on A-size as well. Arizona will pack golds at the end of this week. The quality has been good.

Peaches and nectarines are readily available in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Early fruit has trended towards the smaller sizes due to the varieties coming off and the mild winter. Lacking the freezing temperatures needed for a good fruit set means the next varieties coming off will have less fruit on the trees; and therefore mostly larger sizes to harvest. We expect to see a firming of the small fruit prices as they clean up and a declining market for the larger tray pack fruit as volume shifts to them. Early plums are just beginning this week. Red and black varieties are available in small quantities in 40 series to 60 series tray packs. Apricots are also available with good quality reported. Sizing is running mostly to the 80 series, 2 layer tray pack.

Spring is here with an abundance of eastern tomatoes. Round market volume is heavy in Florida with new crops coming on fast. Quality seems to be very good at this time with demand on the rise. Roma tomatoes have also improved in volume and quality. Cherry and grape tomatoes are steady out of Florida with recent rain having little to no affect on production.

Rounds are in good supply with larger fruit available in greater volumes as growers pick from new plants. Vine ripe tomatoes out of Mexico have began their seasonal decline for this time of year with new crops expected to harvest near the fist of June. Roma production is also increasing following the trend of Florida growers with picks trending toward larger size. Quality and availability is good and increasing weekly. Baja has started shipping grape and cherry tomatoes in light numbers. With demand low, Grape tomatoes available however cherries have been are much harder to source.