The Source - September 10, 2015

California - Galas are cleaning up and the availability is light but they still have a few. Fujis are steady on all sizes and they are peaking on 100/113s but the availability is light. Granny-smith apples are peaking on 100/113s and they are producing lots of the smaller sizes now. Braeburns have started in a light way and they heavier to 100/113/125s. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Washington - The Washington Red Delicious market continues to rise due to lighter supplies and strong demand. Most shippers are still peaking on higher grade 88s and larger but they are getting close to finishing for the season. Small size Red Delicious remain extremely short!! A couple suppliers have started packing new-crop Red Delicious and they are peaking on 88/100s. Golden delicious are steady and are peaking on premium grade 100/113s. New crop Granny smith are also available and they have better availability of 88s and smaller while 80's and larger are limited. Washington Galas are steady to slightly lower and they are peaking on 100/113s. The Galas are currently producing a lot of small fruit and are also short of 80-size and larger. The early Fujis are heavier to large fruit but supplies are light as only a couple shippers have packed. Honeycrisp are steady to lower and are big as they normally are with the main size being 64/72s.
Michigan - Paula Reds and Gingergolds are steady but limited and are already starting to finish. The Paula Reds are peaking on 88/100s and the Gingergolds are peaking on 100/113s. Michigan has started packing a few Macs and they will start packing Galas later this week. The Macs are mostly large but they expect good numbers of small fruit later.
New York - Macs, Galas, and Gingergolds are all steady with light availability. The Macs are peaking on 100s, the galas are heavier to 100/113s, and the Gingergolds are big with 56-88s being the main sizes. The quality has been good on all varieties.

Transitions:
Washington will start packing Jonagolds and Braeburns in 11-14 days

This market is unchanged. Inventories are light with all suppliers. Production from the Northern Mexico region will be finishing in another week. After that, Southern Mexico will begin, but supplies will be moderate to light to start the season. All pack sizing is limited, with jumbo packs being the tightest in availability. Production out of Peru is moderate at best. Supplies are better on standard and large packs out of this growing area. Light supplies are expected throughout the week in all the growing areas.

California harvest is down to just a couple of shippers receiving the last of this year's crop. Should be finished with the season with in the next couple of weeks. Peak sizing is on 40s and 48s with very little smaller fruit.

Mexico's Flora Loca crop harvest is going well, with good volume on 40s and 48s and still limited supplies on 60s and smaller. Limited volume on #2 fruit as quality is very good. The Flora Loca fruit has come up in its maturity, 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.

This will be an extremely tight week on blackberries for all California growing regions. The current crops have past peak for this season and the recent and present heat are accelerating quality issues with soft fruit, red cell and juicing. The extreme heat is also causing issues with harvesting as pickers are working limited hours in the morning to avoid the high temperatures under the hoops in the afternoon. Fruit will be very limited.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply due to extreme heat in growing regions, lower overall production.

Pacific Northwest (OR, WA, BC) blueberries are very limited again this week. Oregon has been the main player with fruit remaining in this area and we are already now sold out of fruit in CA this week. Some shippers are anticipating severe shortages all the way through September. Quality continues to suffer on the remaining PNW fruit with shriveled, aging, soft berries. Southwest Michigan has slowed down in production due to some rain over the past several days. Quality has been good out of the MI region so far. Pricing is continuing to climb upward as we get deeper into September. Availability of the large packs (pints, 18oz, bulk) is extremely limited with more 6oz and 4.4oz clamshells being packed due to limited raw product volume. There is some offshore fruit beginning to hit the East coast with imports from Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. We have not seen availability on the west coast yet. Some shippers are looking for the initial air shots to begin to the west coast in the next few weeks.

Alerts:
Availability will be very limited throughout September as the Pacific Northwest comes to a seasonal end and the Mexican and South American programs have not began to arrive into the US (especially West coast) with good volumes. Production gaps are responsible for the limited supply.

Availability is very limited and quality will continue to suffer. We should expect to see soft, leaky fruit. Harvest hours and volumes will be limited this week due to the high temperatures under the hoops in which raspberries are grown.

Alerts:
Very limited availability as extreme heat is slowing down production in California.

Quality is still the biggest concern with fresh strawberries out of the Salinas/Watsonville growing region. Fruit size is small (20-25 per 1 pound clam), berries are full-red color with bruising and some overripe, soft spots. Overnight temperatures are remaining too warm and the fruit continues to ripen too quickly, turning full-red color before reaching a mature size. The fruit will not last as long as you are used to. Order for quick turns and do not carryover. Maintaining the cold chain is of utmost importance when dealing with lower quality fruit. Fruit should be kept 32-34 degrees at all times. The Santa Maria fruit is coming on slowly but still limited volume out of this area. The fruit size is larger (14-22 per 1 pound clam), berries are firmer. While this area is an improvement over Salinas/Watsonville, the volume is not significant enough to replace the fruit out of the north. Some soft shoulders, overripe fruit and bruising is being reported out of the south as well.

This market has become very active on bunched product as well as crowns. Expect pricing to be escalated on broccoli crowns next week. Demand exceeds supply. Processors will be watching averages closely. The quality of this commodity continues to be average at best. There has been defects including brown and yellow beading, as well as a rubbery texture due to past and current high temperatures in all of the growing regions. The main production continues to be out of the Salinas Valley. The Southern California region will have light production for the entire week. Production out of Mexico as well as McAllen is limited.

Bakersfield crop is in full summertime production. Size in the fields is dropping some and the percentage of jumbo size carrots is falling off a little. With good demand for jumbo size and this fall off in size the market is firm. Quality is good.

This market has leveled off. With the extreme heats that are occurring, don't be surprised if this market rises again early next week. Demand is stronger. Twelve count sizing has the lightest availability. Black spotting and yellowing has been seen upon arrival. The excessive heat in the growing areas are starting to take a toll on the quality. Yields will play a big factor to where this market goes. Heat is expected to swelter in the Salinas valley all week.

This market has remained steady with most suppliers. Santa Maria's production is moderate at best on large sizes. Supplies out of the Michigan region are steady. Production in Salinas is beginning to slow down. The quality continues to be reported as strong and this will continue throughout the week with most suppliers.

This market has softened. High pricing has finally cooled off the market. The Baja region of Mexico has better production as well as southern California. Some seeder and black coloring on the product has been reported upon arrivals from all the growing areas. Salinas has light production.

Demand remains very high and we are seeing extreme demand exceeding supplies on all sizes and all grades of fruit. We are really feeling the extent of the drought conditions of the last couple of years, with fruit not sizing and seeing high percentage of undersized fruit that goes straight to juice and leaving an extreme shortage on California lemons. The new crop in the desert is just beginning in a very light way. Expect this shortage to go until we see the desert crop hit some volume in late September.

Alerts:
Demand exceeds supply has reached an extreme shortage of supplies. Expect shortages to go through September until new crop Desert fruit hit some volume.

Transitions:
Transition into the California crop is beginning in a very limited way. Volumes will pick up as we move through to month.

The lime market is coming down on the small sizes and the large ones are climbing up. The old crop is finishing up and new crop volume is picking up nicely. The overall quality is good on the new crop that is being harvested which is currently the small sized limes. The old crop limes are average to below average in quality and they are tired now. Stylar breakdown is the main defect some lots of old crop and yellowing also may be found. We continue to have good demand on limes.

California Valencia oranges are moving very well and are in full demand with the school push started; 88s/113s/138s are in a extreme demand exceeds supply situation. Because poor pack outs that shippers are experiencing with soft fruit and undersized fruit, many shippers are already looking at their final few weeks of their valencia season, this is much sooner than many expected. Shippers are also having labor shortages as pickers move to grapes to help finish off that crop. Packers have been slowing the pace of packing fruit to stretch out this year's lighter volume valencia crop, but even this may not help much.

Alerts:
Demand for California Valencia oranges 88s/113s/138 has reached an extreme demand exceed supplies as school demand is in full swing.

Transitions:
California Navel crop looks to be starting around mid October.

The green market is steady with a split in pricing due to the range of sizes available in the various varieties. The late season Thompson Seedless and Princess are trending more towards the smaller berry sizes. The newer varieties (Autumn King, etc.) generally produce a much larger berry size. This is allowing shippers to demand a premium for the new crop fruit. Quality is generally very good although we are seeing a little amber showing up in some lots of the Thompson Seedless.

The red seedless grape market continues to be steady with a wide range of sizes and generally excellent quality available. The short term outlook is for this to be the case through the month of September.

This market continues to gain strength. Supplies in Mexico as well as California have tightened up. Demand is stronger. Production in Mexico continues to be the main territory this commodity is being grown. Salinas' production is very light. The main sizing is predominantly small and medium packs.

This market has remained unchanged. There is good quality and availability of this commodity in all the growing regions. Pricing is competitive. The Baja region as well as California continues to produce excellent product. Expect strong quality and competitive pricing throughout this week.

This market is extremely active. Demand exceeds supply. Temperatures have been very high in all the growing areas. There have been issues on quality. These issues are small and irregular head size, large seeder, puffiness, insect damage and internal burn. All shippers are having these problems. This is industry wide and directly caused by the warm temperatures over the past three to four weeks. Yields are down 25-40%. The weights on palletized are averaging 38-44 pounds. Salinas and Santa Maria are the two main growing areas at this time.

Alerts:
High temperatures in the growing regions has caused seeder, internal burn and simply inferior lettuce the we are used to seeing. Working crews are cut back 6-8 hours for safety reasons. Supplies will be tight for two weeks minimum.

Transitions:
Huron production is expected to begin in mid- October. Yuma will have light production expected in Early November.

Leaf items are stronger across the board. The extreme temperatures has altered the yields as well as the workforce. Product is less available. Expect issues like fringe burn, small and irregular sizing, insects, dehydration, seeder and internal burn on romaine. The weights on romaine cartons are averaging 31-36 pounds. Chopped romaine as well as romaine hearts continue to show pinking upon arrival. 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.

The West Side continues to produce good volumes of all sizes. Some shippers are peaking on 9ct while others are peaking on 15ct. The peak sizes at the moment are 9ct and 15ct with 12ct being somewhat tight. The West Side has very good quality and sugar contents. The current market on all sizes is steady for now. We are experiencing good demand for cantaloupes at this time.

The peak size is currently 5ct. The quality and sugar contents are really good right now and this looks to continue. The market is behaving in a stable way on all sizes. Honeydews are working through their peak production. We continue to experience good demand across the board.

Onions are shipping out of Idaho, Washington, Michigan, New York and Wisconsin at this time. Pricing on onions is holding steady on all color and sizes out of all areas. Quality is being reported as good.

California - Bartlett pears continue peaking on US #1 80-100s but they have little if any 120s and smaller. The market is steady but the availability is light as the end of the season is near. Demand is lighter since Washington has started packing. Crimson pears are peaking on 45-55 count half cartons and the market is steady to slightly lower. California Bosc pears are steady and they are peaking on smaller fruit. The quality has been good for all varieties.
Washington - Bartlett pears are still peaking on 90/100/110s and the market is mostly steady with some lower. The demand has been steady. Washington Bosc are steady and are heavy to smaller fruit. D'anjou pears are also available now and they are heavier to smaller fruit as well. Red pears are steady on all sizes and are peaking on half carton 45/50s.

All potato growing regions are producing different size profiles currently. Idaho growers are seeing a large size profile peaking on 70 count and larger. Washington growers are seeing a small profile peaking on 80 count and smaller. Colorado/Wisconsin are right in the middle, peaking on 70 count. Market on large cartons have been steadily decreasing as carton prices for smaller-sized russet potatoes have remained steady. Wisconsin supplies have been interrupted by rain the from part of this week. Some growing areas received 4-5 inches of rain. Growers will be getting back into their fields by the weekend. Quality out of all areas are being reported as good. Markets should stay fairly steady till everything is into storages which will happen sometime in October.

Alerts:
Wisconsin potato growing areas hit with 4-5 inches of Rain. Interrupted harvest.

Stockton, California - Reds, whites, and golds are all steady and all are peaking on A-size. Premium and Baker reds and golds are short. The quality has been good on all colors.
Western Washington - Reds and golds are steady to slightly lower and the whites are steady with only light availability. Reds and whites are peaking on A-size while the golds have more Bs. The quality has been good.
Western/Central Idaho - Reds are steady and are still peaking on A-size. The golds are steady but supplies are limited. The quality has ranged from good to fair in the golds and the red quality is good.
Wisconsin - Red Bs are up slightly but all other sizes and colors are steady. That being said, supplies are short this week for all colors due to last weekends rain. They have limited supplies of premium and baker reds, premium and baker golds and gold Cs. Both colors are peaking on A-size. The quality is good.
Minnesota - Red As and Bs are up slightly but all other sizes and colors are steady for now but will be higher next week. Both colors are peaking on A-size. Minnesota will pack for another week approximately and will then finish up.

Transitions:
North Dakota will start packing red potatoes in the Red River Valley next week.

The peach market is steady with mostly large tray packs of the late season varieties to move. The plum market is lightening up in supply and will be limited in availability for the remainder of this month.

Alerts:
The nectarine harvest has finished for the season. Supplies in inventory are extremely limited.

Rounds - The market is steady. Local growers to coming up with much needed volume and will continue for the next 3 weeks. Northern Florida and Southern Georgia will be coming in with some volume in the next couple weeks. Some mid-west buyers are looking towards the east for better quality product than they are currently getting in the west. This will keep pricing steady with maybe a slight decrease for the remainder of this week. Quality is good.
Roma - The market is steady. Virginia/Tennessee and Michigan are starting to have some decreased volumes. With Mexico continuing to increase in their volume this should be enough to keep the market steady. May see a slight increase in pricing due to lower local availability. Quality is good.
Cherry/Grape - Cherry market remains strong. Not much has changed with this product in the last month and it doesn't look like much change is expected in the near future. Just not enough volume planted. Quality is good. Grape market is strong with Virginia/Maryland producing decent volume. Quality still better than in the west. Quality is good.

Rounds - The market is lower/steady. Still short in Central California but enough volume coming out of Mexico to meet current demand. Vine Ripe tomatoes from Mexico are also coming in with good volume and the market price has reacted. Look for rounds to remain steady in price with maybe a slight decrease. Quality is good.
Romas - The market is steady. Good volume in California and Mexico will keep the market steady in the west. Some volume is going east the will keep the price from decreasing. Quality is good.
Cherry/Grapes - Cherry market remains strong. If you are still willing to pay the elevated costs you may find some availability. Quality is fair. Grape market remain steady as well. Currently we are seeing better volumes and quality. The market should stay steady this week price wise with a slight decrease. Quality is good.