The Source - October 22, 2015

California - they have a few Braeburns and Fujis left but supplies are light. New-crop Pink Ladys are available and they are peaking on the smaller sizes, the market is steady. The quality has been good.
Washington - New-crop Red Delicious are steady to slightly lower. Most suppliers are peaking on 72/80/88s and have very few 125s and smaller. Golden delicious are steady and still producing mostly premium grade 100/113/88s. Granny smiths are steady and peaking on 88/100/113s. Most Granny packers don't have much size larger than an 88. Galas are steady to higher on all sizes. Most Gala shippers are still peaking on 100/113/125s and don't much available larger than a 100-size. Fujis are heavier to large fruit but the market is steady to lower as inventories are building. Honeycrisp are steady and are peaking on 64/72s. Lower grade Honeycrisp are where the bargains are. Jonagolds and Braeburns are steady but supplies are light. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Michigan - McIntosh are peaking on the larger sizes and the market is steady. Galas are steady on all sizes due to steady demand. Golden delicious are peaking on 113-138s and the market is steady. Honeycrisp are peaking on 100's and larger and the market is steady to lower as inventories build. Jonathans, Cortlands, Jonamacs, and Empires are all steady and the sizing is heavier to the smaller fruit. Some suppliers will deal on volume orders of small Jonathans and Empires.
New York - Red delicious, Macs, Galas, Honeycrisp, Macouns, Empires, and Golden delicious are all being quoted steady. McIntosh volume is good and some shippers will flex on certain sizes and grades. Some will flex on Empires as well. The Macs are peaking on 100s, the galas are heavier to 100/113s and the Gingergolds are peaking on 56-88s. A few cortlands are available.. The quality has been good on all varieties.

This market has remained steady, and this will likely continue for the rest of the week. Good supplies out of the region of Peru are forecasted throughout the week. Southern Baja has looks to be moderate in availability for the week. The best availability continues to be with the standard size packs. Jumbo continue to be light in availability. Good quality continues to be reported as good in all the growing regions.

Mexico is beginning to harvest this years new crop. Transition from Flor Loca into all new crop should take about 3 to 4 weeks. Supplies crossing look to remain steady with good volumes. Stating to see improvement in the range of sizes, but still heavier to 48's and larger fruit. Limited volume on #2 fruit as quality is very good. The fruit is still low in its maturity, but is coming in with better oil content and breaking better. Ripe fruit could still be green in color as the skin isn't mature enough for it to darken. Color is not an indication of ripeness, pressure is.

We have seen some improvement in supply this week. While California's crops continue to wind down for the season, more fruit is crossing from Central Mexico and is helping to supply our needs. Best availability is coming out of McAllen, TX and Los Angeles, CA with some transfers now making arrivals into Oxnard, CA as well. Availability of fruit out of Salinas/Watsonville has decreased significantly.

Demand exceeds supply. An industry-wide shortage continues as very minimal volume of fruit is arriving to the US from Uruguay, Argentina, Peru and Mexico. South America continues to struggle with inclement weather that is affecting both production and quality of shipments bound for the US. More reports are coming in with rain, hail, cold weather and even snow in particular growing region's forecasts. Growers are shipping less fruit overall due to the amount of fruit being discarded and because much of the fruit has to be flown into the US to avoid the longer transit time of shipping on the water. Arrivals have been very sporadic to the West coast as much of the fruit is arriving into Miami and has to be trucked over to the West coast for shipping. Availability has been slightly better loading out of the port cities on the East coast in New Jersey and Florida. The current shortage does not look to be short-lived. We've seen several weeks of limited availability and the situation has worsened this week. Depending on the weather, we could be working through production and supply issues all the way through Thanksgiving. Prices remain high as availability is limited. Quality may also continue to challenge us throughout the upcoming weeks.

Alerts:
Demand continues to exceed supply. We are extremely limited with the minimal volumes of fruit arriving into the US.

We have good availability of raspberries! As California's northern growing districts have began to decline for the season, the southern districts are still producing good volumes of fruit. Central Mexico is also increasing in volume which is helping to supply our needs. Promotional opportunity may be available in the upcoming weeks as both quality and availability have improved.

Transitions:
Central Mexico is producing more raspberries as their season kicks off and more fruit is crossing into the US!

Demand exceeds supply. Strawberries are extremely limited across all California growing regions as we continue to transition into the Fall/Winter berry season. Shippers are coming into empty coolers each morning waiting on the day's fresh harvested berries to be inspected, received in and cooled down to loading temperature. With the coolers running out of fruit each evening, trucks expecting to load should physically check in at the cooler early to get an early loading appointment. Delays are to be expected as fruit is limited and slow to come in from the fields each day. Daily harvests continue to be lower volumes than estimated. Labor is presenting another challenge as picking crews have transitioned into planting fields for the Spring crop, limiting the amount of pickers to harvest daily. Quality issues resulting from recent weeks of high temperatures and rain last week are being reported in all areas. Salinas/Watsonville is still showing soft and dry bruising, smaller sized fruit, some overripe and occasional mildew. Many growers have already ended production in the Northern district and many more will follow over the next 2-3 weeks. Santa Maria and Oxnard fruit is stronger but still showing some occasional bruising and fruit has sized down over recent weeks. Santa Maria and Oxnard fruit are demanding a premium price as well.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply. Availability is severely limited from all growing regions and all grower/shippers.

Transitions:
Mexico has begun to cross very small volumes of fruit into McAllen, TX. Limited availability and shipping.

This market has softened slightly. Demand has fallen and some shippers are flexing on pricing. Crown production is better compared to previous past weeks. The quality has been up and down. Defects on this commodity include yellow beading, light color, as well as a rubbery texture. Theses defects are a direct result of high temperatures in past weeks. The main production continues to be out of the Salinas Valley. The Southern California production is moderate at best. There is availability out of Mexico as well as McAllen.

Bakersfield crop is in full production. Size in the fields is good and the percentage of jumbo size carrots is good. good.

This market is firm. Demand exceeds supply. Escalated pricing is in effect. Value added product is escalated as well. The overall quality is reported to be good. Warm temperatures are expected again this week. Production is expected to be moderate to light for the rest of the week. Salinas and Santa Maria are the two main growing regions at this time.

This market continues to gain strength on all sizes. Michigan has finished production, and California production is in high demand. Large sizing is tighter in availability. Santa Maria's production is light. Production in Salinas continues to be very light. The quality continues to be reported as strong in all the growing regions. Oxnard will not begin production until November.

This market has remained steady. Pricing continues to be competitive amongst multiple shippers. The Baja region of Mexico as well as Southern California has increased production. Warm temperatures continue to exists in all of the growing regions. Expect good supplies throughout the week. The overall quality is reported as good.

Demand remains very high. We are seeing better availability on 140s and larger fruit, but still seeing demand exceeding supplies on 165s and smaller fruit coming from the new crop in the desert. Expect this shortage on smaller fruit to continue through at least November.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply on the smaller sized fruit 165s/200s/235s. Expect shortages to go through at least November.

The lime market is currently steady. The overall quality is good on the new crop. The old crop limes are average to below average in quality and will be finished by the end of this month. Hard rain and flooding this past weekend temporarily disrupted harvesting in the growing area. Bigger fruit in a few weeks will be the result of the rains. Holiday demand from Europe mid-November and the increased size of the fruit looks to put upward pressure on the small sized fruit next month. We continue to have good demand on limes.

California Valencia oranges supplies are nearly cleaned up for the season. Some shippers are beginning to pack this years California Navel crop, but only limited volume and others will start over the next couple of weeks. Rains from the end of last week halted harvest and set back supplies for this week shipping. Clear weather this week and shippers have had some good volume in harvest, which will help next weeks shipments. Volumes will pick up over the up coming weeks, if weather cooperates.

Alerts:
Rains in California at the end of last week halted harvest of the Navel crop for several days, leaving supplies for this week very limited. Harvest has begun again, but it will be next week before fruit is ready to ship.

The green seedless grape market is steady with some higher quotes from select shippers on select sizes. Volume harvested is beginning to decline as the industry as a whole is 3 weeks ahead of "normal". Sizing is also an issue as the late season fruit is running heavily towards the larger size profile. We expect this market to strengthen through the month of November with an early finish to the fresh harvest. Quality is generally reported as good to excellent.

The red seedless grape market is about steady but we are seeing some higher quotes. We are currently seeing a split in the market as the smaller Crimson Seedless are selling at a discount to the larger Vintage Red and Scarlet Royal's. This will likely continue in the short term as shippers begin to clean up on the larger premium lots. The peak harvest on the red grapes has been reached and we expect to see a gradual decline in fresh harvest numbers through the month of November. Quality is generally reported as good but we still have yet to see if the recent rains will have any impact.

Strong markets on this commodity will exist for the entire week, and likely next week as well. Escalated pricing is in effect. Temperatures in the Mexico region continue to be high. Demand continues to increase. Production out of Salinas will be very light all week. The main sizing continues to be in small and some medium packs.

This market has remained unchanged. Next week by the middle of the week, some suppliers are expecting lighter supplies. Pricing continues to be competitive. The Baja region as well as California continue to be the main growing regions at this time. The overall quality is good with most shippers.

This market is very active. Huron production has picked up. Seeder and light weights are the big issues in this region. Quality issues in Salinas and Santa Maria include small and irregular head size, lightweights, large seeder, puffiness, insect damage and internal burn. The defects are directly related to past and current high temperatures. These defects are industry wide and will continue throughout the month. The weights on palletized are averaging 32-36 pounds. Salinas and Santa Maria are expected to be light in production all week.

This market is stronger with most shippers. The quality issues continue. These issues include fringe burn, small and irregular sizing, insects, dehydration, seeder and internal burn. The weights on romaine cartons are averaging 24-28 pounds. Green and red leaf markets are higher as well. Fringe burn, mildew damage, internal burn and insect pressure continue to be defects associated with these commodities. Expect moderate to light supplies for the entire week. There will continue to be gaps in pricing amongst the different shippers.

The West Side is producing less and less volumes of all sizes and growers are finishing for the season each week. The peak size at the moment is 12ct. The 9ct are available again and volumes of them are increasing nicely. The West Side has good quality but green cast is prevalent in all but a few growers lots. Some melons are cutting with more green in them than normal, this will continue until the West Side is finished in October. The desert has been producing good volumes of large sized fruit with nice color and sugar content with a peak size of 9ct. The current market on all sizes is steady. We are experiencing good demand for cantaloupes at this time. Offshore melons are set to arrive in Florida around the middle of November.

The peak size is currently 6ct with very few 8ct coming in. Our honeydew market is steady on all sizes currently. Honeydews are also past their peak production now with many growers finished for the season. Mexico has started sending dews across their border into Nogales AZ for loading. The desert is packing in Maricopa with 5ct being the peak sizes and 6ct being the smallest coming in. We continue to experience good demand across the board. The quality and sugar contents from all regions continue to be good and this looks to continue. Offshore dews are set to arrive during the later part of November.

Washington - yellows are steady to slightly lower and reds are steady. The yellows are still peaking on mediums and jumbos. The reds are producing more mediums than they typically. The quality for both colors has been fair to good.
Idaho/Oregon - Yellow mediums are steady while jumbos and larger are steady to slightly lower. Some suppliers will deal for volume on jumbo and larger yellows. Reds are steady to slightly higher and the market remains strong on jumbos. The quality has been good for both colors. Whites are steady and the quality has been good.

Washington - Bartletts are still peaking on 110/120s and the market is steady. Large Bartletts are very limited. Bosc are steady to lower and they are still peaking on 90/100s. D'anjou pears are also steady and continue to peak on 100s. Most shippers have limited supplies of 80's and larger in both grades and all sizes of the fancy grade. Red pears are steady on all sizes and are peaking on half carton 45/50s and full carton 90/100s. The quality has been good on all Washington pears.

Washington - counts are steady and they are peaking on 80-count and smaller. Many sheds are not running this week so the availability is light. The quality has been good.
Idaho - The market has leveled on counts. The Norkotahs and Burbanks are both large in size and not yielding many 80-count and smaller so they are higher priced than the larger counts. Many shed are not running this week so the availability is light. The quality is generally good.
Colorado - the market is steady and the sizing is more evenly spread from large to small. The quality has been good.
Wisconsin - they are also steady on counts for now and have all sizes available. The quality has been good.

Bakersfield, California---they continue to bring in all colors from Washington and the market is steady for all colors. The quality has been good.
Western Washington - all colors are steady and all are still peaking on A-size. The quality for all colors has been good.
Central/Eastern Idaho - Reds and golds are steady and both colors are heavy to A-size. The quality has been good.
Wisconsin - Reds and golds are steady on all sizes and both colors are peaking on A-size. Premium and baker reds, premium and baker golds, and gold Cs remain short. The quality has been good.
North Dakota - reds and golds are steady and both are heavy to A-size. Number-two volume is improving. Premiums and bakers are still very short. The quality has been good.

Rounds - The market is steady/higher. demand higher in the east, due to weather conditions. In addition, volume will continue to decline in the west, which will keep pricing higher in the east. Northern Florida has come on, however, volume has been lower. Prices should remain steady, with possible slight increase, until Northern Florida volumes increase, which may possibly be next week. Quality good.
Roma - The market is steady. Northern Florida volume has increased to help support current demand. Mexican volume will continue to build for their fall program, which will add additional supplies to the market. Quality good.
Cherry/Grape - Cherry market is higher. Still low volumes out of all regions. The Cherry market will not see a change until Florida's larger shippers come into better supplies. Until then the market will remain elevated. Grape market is high. Supplies continue to be short. Weather in the east has limited an already short supply. Market will remain strong until supplies in the east picks up. The west continues to see fewer producers. Quality is good.

Rounds - The market is steady. California is wrapping up production, however, Mexico is coming in with decent volume to support demand. Weather in the east has put the market in a tight situation in the east. Quality is Fair.
Roma - The market is steady. Mexico will see increased volumes as they build up for their fall program, however the rains will effect overall yields. Quality is good.
Cherry/Grape - Cherry market is steady/higher. All regions have very low volumes. Grape market is steady/higher. Mexico is supplying some volume but demand continues to exceeds supplies. Mexico is also having some quality issues. Market will remain strong until Northern Florida begins harvest next week. The west continues to see fewer producers. Quality is fair