The Source - May 18, 2015

New York is still packing a few Red Delicious and Red Romes. Both varieties are still peaking larger fruit. The quality has been good. New York expects to 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 are still peaking on 88's and larger. The Jonathans and Ida-reds are peaking on 100's and smaller. Availability is light for all varieties as the end of the season approaches. The quality has been good.
Washington Red Delicious are steady but most suppliers will flex on volume orders of 88's and larger. Most packers are peaking on 88's and larger in the premium and Washington extra-fancy #1 grades. Small reds remain relatively short. Golden Delicious are steady on all sizes. The Goldens remain evenly sized but 125's and 138's are relatively short. Granny-Smith are steady and are peaking on 64/72's. Granny-smith 100-size and small are very short. 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 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.

Export business is down and jumbo sizing is more readily available. Peruvian production has really picked up and this has softened this market, overall. Excellent deals can be had if loading out of Miami. All sizing is available, with the majority coming in standard and large size packs. Loading in Southern California is an option as well. Mexican production is moderate at best. 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.

Market and demand remain fairly steady. California fruit is being sold at a premium over Mexican fruit. Mexico volumes continue to decline and California fruit continues to increase slowly. Some quality issues showing up are red cell and soft spots, bleeding. Overall, the new California fruit has looked very nice.

Market is steady, demand is good. Fruit availability has been snug on both coasts and looks to be the same situation to start this week. Florida has finished most local production. Georgia volume is light as the high bush varieties end and the rabbit eye varieties have not yet started. North Carolina should start in the next week which will help to increase supply on the eastern side. California crop has slowed down over the recent weeks with rain and cooler weather. Mexican production continues to decline out of all areas.

Market and demand remain fairly steady. As Mexico continues to decline weekly, we will see an increase in California fruit. Overall volume should remain steady as the crop transitions to CA. Some quality issues reported with soft, overripe berries.

Demand and market remain steady as we head toward Memorial Day weekend. Overall quality is fair to good. Some quality issues showing up in the packs from the recent rain would be light color, soft spots, bruising and occasional mold. Fruit may not have the shelf life you are used to for this period. Please make sure to maintain proper cold chain to maximize shelf life. Grower/shippers are working with their harvest crews to divert as much subpar fruit as possible and put quality fruit into the clams.

Crowns as well as bunched product continue to gain strength in the marketplace. The main production is coming out of the Salinas Valley. The problems with knuckling and branching continue with bunched product. Crowns will be very light throughout the week. Santa Maria will be light in availability all week. Production in Mexico is moderate to light and crowns have tightened up in this region as well.

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

This market continues to rise. Supplies will be light all week from every shipper. Demand exceeds supply. Escalated pricing is in effect. There is a gap in production that will run through the week at a minimum. Quality issues continue to be reported with irregular size heads and slight discoloration seen upon arrival. Santa Maria and Salinas are the main growing regions currently.

This market is stronger with most suppliers. Smaller sizing overall is tighter in availability. Loading in Oxnard/Santa Maria continues to give the best fob price. Florida has finished production. Salinas will not begin production until mid to late June. The quality is being reported as 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 harvest in California is peaking now with a wide variety of sizes available. Quality is reported as excellent with no quality issues being reported due to the recent weather event. Price looks to be at promotable levels for the next two weeks. Rainier cherries are now available but are commanding a premium over the conventional red varieties.

Size curve of the 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 producing less fruit and no size are a major factor for the demand exceed conditions.

The lime market has come down on the larger sizes more from last week's levels while the smaller sizes are holding pretty steady. Supplies are increasing on larger sizes now and decreasing slightly on smaller sizes. The previous forecast of lower overall supplies from April through mid May has held true to date on larger sizes but that trend is now reversing. Lower prices have helped spur demand on all 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 11-12.00 average.

The green seedless grape harvest out of Mexico consists primarily of Perlettes. Quality, size and brix are reported to be very good on these. We should see a move to Sugarones in the next week to 10 days; with early projections on these as excellent for size and quality. The Coachella green seedless harvest is mostly on Sugarones but early harvests are limited. These are commanding a premium over the Mexican fruit due to their size, sugar and limited numbers. This will continue to be the case as cool weather has slowed down the maturation of the current crop.

The red seedless grape market out of Mexico has dropped and then steadied at slightly lower levels than last week. Increased volume and average demand continue to be the norm. Conversely, the red grape market out of Coachella has firmed up as the unusually cool weather for this time of year has slowed the harvest. Quality is reported as excellent on the Coachella fruit and demand for the limited amount of fruit available is very good.

This market remains flat. Most of the production for this commodity continues to be produced out of the Baja region of Mexico. Supplies will be strong throughout the 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 lower with some suppliers while higher with others. Overall, let's call it steady. There is a gap in pricing by four to five dollars so please be aware. The Salinas Valley continues to produce the bulk of the lettuce supplies with Southern California also in moderate production. Local production continues in the U.S. The weights are ranging from 41-47 pounds for California product. Issues include ribbing, insect damage, rusting and puffiness from California.

Romaine continues to gain strength in the marketplace. Quality issues continue however. Tip burn, wind burn and mildew are common defects with this commodity. These issues are industry wide. Insects are not as big an issue as in past weeks, but they are still seen sporadically upon arrivals. These same issues are also evident in 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 continues to exceed supplies. Shippers are holding customers to averages.

Cantaloupe supplies are continuing to decrease regarding offshore melons and are expected to finish by the end of this week. The desert crop has good supplies which are increasing each week. Nogales supplies are 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 finished now. Demand is good on all sizes. Quality is excellent on the domestic lopes. The offshore lope quality is still acceptable with some shipments coming in soft. The desert region experienced some rainfall last Friday and Saturday. The showers disrupted harvesting and some lopes may have a little dirt on them because of muddy conditions. The market is currently holding steady.

Offshore honeydew supplies continue to remain lighter than previous weeks and will be finished before the end of this month. Some offshore shippers have already finished for the season. Demand is not very good on offshore dews because of lower quality. Supplies out of Mexico are tapering off now from their peak production levels. The desert has started with volume picking up nicely and the dews are excellent quality. 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 all dews coming in. The dew market is steady on all domestic and Mexican dews while deals are being made on the lower quality offshore product.

California - The Southern California onion growing areas received up to an inch of rain over the weekend. All shippers are accessing the damage and will not get into their fields till Tuesday. Onions shipping this week will have some light staining, mud and other water related issues. Market is very active on all colors and sizes. Central California onion growers will start up in a light way later this week.
Texas - The Uvalde growing area also received some rain over the weekend which has most growers staying out their fields till Wednesday. Market is very active on all colors and sizes. Quality is fair.
Mexico - There are still some light supplies of Mexican Onions coming into McAllen, Texas. Market is firm. Quality is being reported as good.
New Mexico - This growing area will start to break ground in a light way next week. Quality is being reported as good.
Idaho and Washington are done for the season.
Look for the Onion markets to be active for the next couple of weeks as Central California and New Mexico get up to speed.

Alerts:
ONIONS:
Southern California and Texas Onion growers were hit with up to inch of rain which has interrupted supplies. Markets are active.

Washington is still packing 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 have limited availability of fancy-grade fruit. The red pears are peaking on 50/55 half-cartons and supplies are light. They will be available through May.
For Imports we have Chilean Packhams and Bosc. The Packhams are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 100's. Chilean Bosc are steady as well and are heavier to 100/110's.

Idaho - Overall demand is light. Supplies of 40-60 count and 10oz #2's potatoes are still limited with most shippers. The market is firm on these sizes. Supplies of 70 count and smaller are good with a steady market. There are deals being made on 80 - 100 count but be careful as some of these potatoes where packed last week. Quality is still being reported as good on the final product. Sheds are having to run a lot of potatoes to get enough cartons due to the high shrink. New crop Idaho's are in the ground and so far look to be ahead of schedule.
Washington - is the only major potato producing state with large cartons (40-60 count). Markets are steady. Quality is good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - Supplies of cartons are limited due to light retail demand the start of this week. Markets are steady. Quality is being reported as good.

Bakersfield, California continues to pack all colors and all are peaking on A-size. The quality has been good.
Phoenix, Arizona continues to pack reds and they will start packing golds today. All sizes are available in the reds and they are peaking on A-size. The quality has been good.
Pearsall, Texas is still packing reds but is rained out for the balance of the week.
Northern Florida (Hastings) is also packing all colors. The Red A market is stronger due to strong demand, all other sizes and colors are steady. The size-profile is heavy to A-size for all colors. The Florida quality has been good.

The peach and nectarine market overall is good with steady demand and pricing. Prices have moderated somewhat with better volume on the larger sizes and less volume available on the smaller volume fill packs. Red and black plums are available in limited volume from several shippers. Quality on the early fruit is reported as excellent. Pricing is strong with limited numbers but should ease off as we move into June and harvest volumes increase. The apricot market is steady with sizing running heavily to the 2 layer 84's and 88's.

Palmetto/Ruskin growers expect to harvest heavy volumes this week and next, and then will taper off for the season. Quality remains very nice on rounds and romas. We’ve had a supply heavy market for several weeks with large volumes crossing in the West. Florida grape and Cherry tomatoes are past their flush and have slowed down in production allowing for a small increasing in pricing with no major shifts in demand.

There are good supplies of round tomatoes coming out of the west right now. Western Mexico is finishing up the season but Baja and Eastern Mexico is in good supply and expected to see good yields through June. Fruit from older fields is sizing down, but new areas are in crown picks and are bringing larger tomatoes to market. Production has begun in the California desert and the Central Valley is expected to begin as we head into next month also. Mexico continues to harvest romas in strong volumes. With more growers starting production in Baja the outlook is good for supply and availability. Grape production is increasing in Baja with good supply crossing into southern California where supplies should be ample through the rest of the year.