The Source - May 6, 2015

New York continues is still packing a few Red Delicious, Red Romes and McIntosh and they have very few Empires left but are selling off of inventory. Most varieties remain large and are peaking on 100's and larger. The quality has been good. They expect top pack until approximately June 6th.
Michigan is still packing Empires, 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 Empires, Jonathans, Ida-reds have better availability 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. 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 very light 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.

This market is continues on a steady path. Mexican production is moderate in production. Demand, overall is on the light side. Standard and large sizing are the main packs available on eleven pound cases. Salinas and Mexico continue to be the main growing regions for this commodity. Peruvian product has picked up in availability, and loading out of Miami will be a sharper price. Jumbo packs are available. Twenty-eight pound cases are not being packed at this time.

California growers are harvesting good volume. They are peaking on 60's and smaller. Will 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 70% 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 improvement. Quality and flavor are at their peak.

Central Mexico volume will continue to decline for the next several weeks. Some quality issues are showing up in the packs as well with soft berries, red cell and mold. CA fruit has started in a light way out of Santa Maria; we'll see this volume increase by mid-May. Quality has been good on this fruit.

Promotional volumes and opportunities available with blueberries throughout May. Volumes are increasing as domestic fruit regions continue to come on. CA central valley, Georgia and Florida are all in production with areas of MX still going as well. North Carolina blues projected for Mid-May. Fruit quality has been good consistently. Sizing is varying by regions, some large sized blues available by shipper label. Larger packs are most common (pints, 11oz, 18oz) with the good volumes of fruit being harvested, few small 4.4 oz clams being packed.

All growing areas continue to increase in production with Central MX expected to peak in the upcoming week. Very light availability starting out of Salinas / Watsonville and Santa Maria and will continue to increase throughout May. Quality is good, some darker berries showing up in the packs. This is a seasonal color profile by variety and needs to be distinguished against overripe fruit.

DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY. Market remains steady as we head into Mother's Day weekend. We are in a seasonal supply gap period after Oxnard ended most major production for fresh market about 3 weeks earlier than normal and the Santa Maria and Salinas/Watsonville districts are not putting out enough volume yet to cover the loss of the southern region with the high demand for fresh strawberries. Shippers are quoting oversold / sold out each day. Orders are being pushed into the following date and/or fill-rated from shippers as well. Expect volume to be limited through Mother's Day weekend and lower volumes overall than in recent years. Some shippers are projecting this situation could hold throughout Memorial Day as demand continues to be very good and supply is not catching up as quickly. Cool temperatures remain with overcast marine layer and drizzly fog. Fruit continues to come on slowly due to the cooler temps. Bruising, water damage, decay, green tip and white shoulders are all common defects showing up in the packs. As far as counts are concerned, most 1 pound clams continue ranging from 13 to 21 in Santa Maria and Salinas/Watsonville areas and 22 to 26 in the Oxnard area for the few shippers still shipping down there.

Alerts:
STRAWBERRIES:
Demand exceeds supply as we head into Mother's Day weekend. Many grower/shippers project this could be the situation throughout the month of May. Demand remains very good and supply continues to come on slowly, not catching up with current demand.

This market is steady. The problems with knuckling and branching continue with bunched product. Broccoli crowns are in better supplies in the marketplace. Expect quality defects mentioned earlier on bunched product throughout the week. Santa Maria has light to moderate supplies. Production in Mexico is light to moderate as well.

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

This market is up with all suppliers. Escalated pricing continues to be in effect. Quality issues include 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. Expect escalated pricing all of next week as well.

This market is firm. Shippers are willing to load out of Salinas but a higher cost is being tacked onto the fob price so please be aware. Smaller sizing, overall, is more readily available compared to past weeks, where this size was a little tighter. 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.

The cherry market is adjusting downward as supplies continue to increase. Sizing is still peaking on the 10 to 10.5 row. Quality is reported as excellent. We may see a slight tightening in the market as growers move between varieties. This would only be a temporary bump at best as the deal still looks to be coming on quickly in all regions.

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 is coming down on the smaller sizes while the larger sizes are holding pretty steady. Supplies are increasing on smaller sizes and decreasing slightly on larger sizes for the next few weeks. The forecast of lower overall supplies from April through mid May will more than likely keep the market from completely tanking to the bottom although it will be a choppy ride. 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 Valencias have started and volume is increasing. 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.

Mexico and Coachella are both coming on with better supplies daily. Quality is reported as excellent with good sizing, especially on the Sugarones. The one caveat to this is the projected heat in the Palm Desert / Coachella region, which could affect their availability. Pricing is much more aggressive on the Mexican fruit as supplies are coming in much greater numbers than the early California deal.

The red seedless grape market is adjusting daily, especially out of Mexico, as volume is increasing and the Chilean fruit is still cleaning up. Quality and size on the early flames is excellent. This market should continue to moderate as volume improves.

This market has remained unchanged. Demand continues on the light side on bunched product. Most of the production for this commodity is coming out of the Baja region of Mexico. Light supplies are being harvested in Salinas. Small and medium sizing continues to be the main packs available.

There are a few suppliers that have light to moderate availability. With this being said, this market is softer. There is a gap in pricing as much as five dollars and this will continue throughout the week, Most supplies are being harvested in the Salinas Valley. The weights are ranging from 39-43 pounds. Issues include ribbing, insect damage and rusting has been seen upon arrival. Santa Maria will be very light in production all week.

The romaine market overall is steady with most suppliers. Fringe burn and insects are the main issues at this time. These issues are also with green and red leaf items. Warm temperatures and lack of rain in the growing regions are the two key factors to the insect issues. Growers are attempting to spray as much as possible to alleviate the problem. Weights on romaine are ranging from 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. Green leaf in particular is going to be extremely light in availability all this week as suppliers continue to gap in production. Demand exceeds supply.

Cantaloupe supplies are continuing to decrease regarding offshore melons. The desert crop started last week with supplies increasing each week. Nogales volume on lopes is lower this week with the peak size being 12's. Cantaloupe sizing overall is lighter on small sizes and more plentiful on larger sizes. Arrivals of offshore melons on the west coast are arriving in very limited volumes with 9's being the peak size. Demand is good and has stopped the market from declining. Quality is good on all lopes with the domestic being the best.

Offshore honeydew supplies continue to remain lighter than previous weeks. Supplies out of Mexico are increasing now with good volume on dew 8's which is helping generate demand for loading in Nogales. The Mexican supplies are beginning to take up the lowering volume of offshore dews. Demand is good right now across all areas. The peak size is 6's on both coasts. The desert is going to start in the next few weeks 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 right now on all sizes.

California and Texas are the main shipping points on Onions as Idaho finishes for the season. Demand is very good out of California on Jumbo Yellow and Reds keeping these markets firm. Super Colossal and Colossal Yellow Onions have limited demand with good supplies which has this market soft. Quality is being reported as excellent on all colors out of this area. Texas has moderate supplies and good demand which has this market steady. Quality has improved out of this area.

Washington is still shipping D'anjou pears and red pears. The D'anjous are peaking on US#1 80-100's and the supplies of fancy grade fruit are light. The red pears will be available through May but supplies are 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 out of Idaho continues to get tighter on large cartons as this season moves on. It has now started to move into the smaller sizes. This was brought about from heavy rains during the growing season late in the summer. Not only was the size affected but the quality of the storage potatoes where hurt also. The Idaho's crop normally averages around 55% size, which generates average amount of count cartons from 40 count to 120 count. This season they are averaging around 25% to 35% size. Of that percent it breaks out with most of that size being in the 7-8oz range with very few potatoes reaching 10oz or larger. Quality of the storage crop that is left is fair at best which is causing heavy shrink, adding to the shortage of cartons. Quality that is being packed is good. Markets are firm.
Washington - is the only major potato producing state with large cartons (40-60 count). Markets are steady but firm. Quality is good.
Colorado/Wisconsin - is in the same supply situation as Idaho on the large cartons and quality of their storage potatoes. Market is firm. Quality is good.

Bakersfield, California is packing reds, golds, and whites. All three colors are peaking on A-size now and there are more premiums and bakers as well. 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. The reds are peaking on A-size and there are some clean-up deals available.
Northern Florida (Hastings) has started packing all colors but the gold and white supplies are limited. The market for all colors is steady to higher due to strong demand. 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. The quality has been good.

Peaches and nectarines continue to increase in supplies with excellent quality. Sizing still runs heavy to the smaller fruit but there is a wider range of sizes available daily. Apricots are available with good quality in a range of all sizes. Plums are still 10 day to 2 weeks away from the earliest harvest with good volume available by early to mid June.

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 are much harder to source.