The Source - September 12, 2016

Washington - C.A. red delicious are steady on all sizes and grades with only light availability of the Wash-Extra-fancy #2s and lower. Most shippers continue to peak on extra-fancy 72-88s but supplies are very light due to strong demand. Expect the market to remain strong through the balance of the storage season. Golden delicious are available but supplies remain light as most shippers are just getting started. C.A. Granny Smith are higher on most sizes and continue to peak on 88-113s. The C.A. Granny market has turned up quickly. New-crop Granny-smith. The Gala market is steady on most sizes and grades. Galas are peaking on 80/88/100/72s so they are big. Gala inventories are building and the availability is better. Honey Crisp are steady to slightly lower on most sizes and grades but the fruit remains large and is still peaking on 48/56/64s. The quality for C.A. reds, goldens, granny-smith, Galas, and Honey Crisp has been good.California - Fuji's are steady on all sizes and peaking on higher-color 100/113s but the availability remains light.
Granny-Smith are steady on all sizes with only light availability. The quality has been good.
Idaho---they packed some early Galas but supplies are limited.
Michigan-- Paula Reds, Golden delicious, Jonamacs, Galas, and Ginger Golds are all peaking on larger fruit and all are steady. Supplies remain fairly light for all three varieties. One packers have started with McIntosh. The quality has been good.
New York-- Paula Reds, McIntosh, Jonamacs, Galas, and Ginger Golds are available now. The New York sizing has been smaller with more 100/125/138 size fruit than other areas. The quality has been good.
Chile - Chilean Fuji's have finished for the season.

Light volume from Mexico, but all asparagus markets are steady. Quality is good in Northern Baja Mexico and Peru.

Mexico's summer crop is quickly running out of fruit. Volume are dropping quickly. Supplies are critically low after Hurricane Newton dumped heavy rains in the growing region of Mexico last week which show down harvest of what is left of the old summer crop. New crop is behind in maturity and may not be ready to start harvest and shipping until early October. September will be very short in supplies.

Alerts:
California and Peru has pretty much wrapped up their season. This leaves a quickly depleting summer crop from Mexico as the only source. Mexico's new crop will not be ready until early October. September supplies will be very short limited in availability

Green bells out of the California Central Valley are winding down in volume and will soon transition to Southern California. Supply is lightening and showing stronger pricing.

Red bells out of Fresno are now in better supply and are showing good overall quality and condition. These will also transition to southern California.

Yellow bells showing better availability with quality and condition still showing some trouble.

Production is trending down and supply remains limited. Quality is good overall, a few reports of overripe and red cell. There are still a few blackberries available in North Carolina but those are becoming increasingly limited as well. We expect to see more Mexican blackberries coming through McAllen this week and they are reported to have very good quality.

Alerts:
Supplies are light in CA, more availability in Santa Maria than in the northern district. Some shippers demand is exceeding supply.

Transitions:
Mexico is beginning to cross more volumes of blackberries through McAllen, TX.

Domestic production continues to decrease and the import blueberries from South America are not coming in with enough volume to cover the supply gap in between domestic and offshore season/crop. Demand is exceeding supply and we look to be in very limited supplies for the next 2-4 weeks as well.

Alerts:
Demand is exceeding supply. Limited availability is expected to continue over the next 2-4 weeks as the domestic season winds down and the import season from South America ramps up with better volumes being imported to the US toward the end of the month.

Raspberry production volume has been light for the past several weeks. Forecasts look like we have now passed the lowest point and volume should begin to rebound as we move into mid-September. Mexican production will increase in the coming weeks and they'll begin crossing raspberries to the US with decent volume. We will remain day to day with availability through this week but should see availability increase soon. Supply is light and demand is very good to begin this week, currently exceeding supply.

Alerts:
Demand is currently exceeding supply but we do expect to be in better volume and availability later this week.

Transitions:
Mexican production will increase over the coming weeks helping to supplement the overall supply.

Supply is steady with good production volume in Salinas, Watsonville and Santa Maria. There's still a premium for new crop Santa Maria strawberries but the price range is much smaller between the north and the south fruit from previous weeks. Moderate weather is supporting good quality in all areas. There are some reports of bruising and overripe out of the north and some dry bruising and white shoulder out of the south.

Supplies from Mexico have decreased due to some quality issues in the growing region. This has put pressure on Santa Maria and Salinas to take on the demand. The market is trending higher and the demand has moved towards domestic broccoli. Quality is good from Salinas and Santa Maria with minimal yellowing.

Brussel sprout supplies this week will be limited due to a small planting gap. Demand has increased as well forcing the market to trend higher. Quality is still excellent with most sizes being available and nice green color.

The Bakersfield crop is in full production. Growth is good and producing good percentage of Jumbo size and supplies are good. Supply of baby peeled carrots are good.

The cauliflower market has firmed up and looks to trend higher as the week progresses. Suppliers are tightening up as demand continues to pick up. Quality is good despite supply issues. We have had minimal arrival problems.

Good supplies continue out of all three regions, Michigan, southern California and Salinas. Demand exceeds supplies again and this looks to continue the entire week. Suppliers are flexing on most sizing. The overall quality continues to be strong. Larger sizing is coming out of California for the most part. Oxnard is set to begin production at the end of October.

Pablano - Good quality and condition expected to continue.

Tomatillo- Rainy weather has affected quality of Tomatillo. Many grower's showing water blister's turning into decay.

Jalapeno- good quality on new crop pepper, mostly large sizing with good color.

Quality and Condition are good overall. , California supply has remained steady.

Cilantro supplies are still extremely limited. The market is steady at higher levels. Quality is fair at best with yellowing, black discoloration, seeders, and dehydration. Suppliers continue to struggle with limited volume.

Alerts:
We are still experiencing extremely limited supplies and strong markets.

The Ventura crop is our main supplier of domestic fruit, and their season is winding down and dropping quickly. Demand is strong and exceeding what supplies are left. The Desert crop is starting some very light volume and will be increasing through the month, but will not reach volume until November. Chilean and Mexican fruit is available, but the lack of California fruit is putting heavy presser on these supplies also.

Alerts:
Supplies of 115s/140s/165s/200s/235 are very tight on both choice and fancy fruit and demand is far exceeding supplies

The larger 110ct through 200ct are now more expensive than the 230ct and 250ct sizes. Demand is good on all sizes across the board. Limes are peaking on the 230ct. Quality is fair overall with some leaf shading (yellow color) showing up and occasional stylar end breakdown showing up from previous rains. The larger limes are old crop and are very tired. Shippers are sorting through them before they load the trucks which is helping on arrivals. Large sized new crop will show up between the middle to the end of September. Smaller sized new crop limes are filtering into the supplies already. The market is lower on the small limes and higher on the larger sizes.

Supplies are getting tight on small size Valencia oranges. 113s and 138s both grades have reached demand exceed situation and will be until Navels start at the end of October/first of November. Fruit is showing some weakness of quality, which is typical for this time of year after a long hot summer.

Alerts:
138 and 113 size oranges have reached demand exceeds supply situation.

Fair quality and condition on cucumbers coming out of Northern Baja coast. Short supply due to rain and heat have made for fair quality only. Conditions will improve as we move into the fall.

Quality and condition on eggplant has remained good coming out of Fresno. Minimal cosmetic issue's like scaring being shown. Still showing green calyx on all size's. Volume has also remained steady on all sizes.

The green grape market is split between the 2 major varieties currently available. The Thompson grapes are being offered at aggressive prices this week, but sizes are small and the berries are showing amber color with occasional soft fruit. The Autumn King variety is the superior variety. Sizes are much larger and the quality is excellent. However, the Autumn King variety is demanding a premium price. The Thompsons will be coming to an end shortly, leaving only the better quality varieties available. I expect the market prices to remain steady, but we will see the cheap offers on the smaller green grapes disappear.

Red grape supplies and markets remain steady. The Crimson variety is slowly phasing out and the Scarlet Royal variety is the mainstay. This week we will see value buys on the remaining Crimsons. These grapes are good in color and quality is strong, but sizes are small. The Scarlet Royal grapes are much bigger in size, but prices are higher. We do not expect to see much change in supply or market conditions this week.

Green onion supplies have improved. The market is trending lower as demand has fallen off. Quality is still a problem with arrival issues such as yellowing and brown discoloration of the tops.

Kale supplies remain abundant. The market is relatively flat with aggressive prices. Quality is excellent with minimal yellowing and dehydration.

This week has started out like in past weeks, flat. Supplies continue to exceed demand. Shippers are hoping for demand to pick up by the end of the week, creating some kind of price increase but this may just be a hopeful thought. There continues to be a slight price variance in the market, but shippers are listening to all offers. Some common defects seen are Ribbing , insect, mechanical and puffiness, but these defects have been minimal. The quality continues to be reported as good from produce inspectors.

Good quality is being reported on all leaf items. Aside from slight insect damage, and small ribbing, the overall quality is good with many suppliers. Demand is flat to begin the week as suppliers flex for larger than normal orders. Romaine supplies as well as all leaf items are expected to be good throughout the week. The weights on romaine are averaging have been averaging 33-37 pounds. Red, green and butter leaf also show above average weights being reported.

The supplies have increased a little over last week and demand has remained good but steady. The market is steady on smaller sizes and a little lower on larger sizes . Many of the growers are packing 9ct through 15ct with a few packing light numbers of 18ct. Quality is good now and some lots are excellent.

Demand is steady versus last week. Supplies and the market are both steady right now. Weather has been good for growth and quality is excellent now. We can expect good supplies and quality to be the pattern for a while.

The current availability is limited and offering medium to smaller sizes. Mostly 60 size fruit being offered. Movement out of the San Joaquin Valley has been moving steady. Steady production with steady demand. Quality is generally good overall. Watermelon starting to come in through Nogales Arizona . Seeing 36s/45s/65s.

Washington - the yellow, red, and white markets are steady to on all colors and the sizing is still mostly in the medium to jumbo range with only a few colossal and larger yellows. The quality is good and the availability is good.
Idaho/Oregon - They are also steady on all colors as well and continue to peak on jumbo and larger yellows with very light availability of mediums. The reds and whites are both peaking on jumbos as well. The quality has been good for all colors.

California - Bartlett pear supplies are light as many shippers are finishing up. The quality has been good. Crimson pears are steady and continue to peak on half carton 45/40s but supplies are very short. Bosc are steady to lower and are peaking on smaller fruit. The quality has been good.
Washington - Bartlett pears are steady to slightly lower and are peaking on 90/100/110s. D'anjou pears are also steady to slightly lower and are still peaking on 90/100/110s. Stark Crimson pears are steady and continue to peak on 40/45 half cartons. There are a few Bosc available The quality for all pears has been good.

Supplies are still light, but look to start to start improving as we move through to month.

Washington - The market is steady on all sizes and the potatoes are still peaking on the smaller counts. The quality has been good.
Idaho - The Idaho market is steady to lower on counts and some shippers are flexing for volume on various sizes. Number-two volume is limited, in fact most suppliers are still subbing number ones. Most packers have good quality and are still peaking on the smaller counts.
Wisconsin/Colorado - both areas are lower and russets and gotten in line with Idaho pricing. The quality has been good.

Stockton California - all colors are steady and are still peaking on A size. The quality has been good.
Idaho - the market is steady on reds and golds. Some suppliers will flex on volume orders of Red As. Both colors are peaking on A size with good quality.
Minnesota - reds are up but B-size are especially short as many packers are finishing early. Golds are mostly steady but the availability is limited. The quality has been good.
Wisconsin - golds are steady and have better availability while reds are up and short because of the shortage in Minnesota. The quality is good.
Eastern Washington - most suppliers are gapping for a couple more weeks.
Western Washington - the market for reds, golds, and whites are steady on all sizes with a few lower. The quality has been good.
Delaware - all sizes and colors are steady. The market for C size remains strong for all colors due to light supplies. The quality has been good.

Supply on Italian squash and Yellow S/N out of the Santa Maria have remained steady. New fields have started in the Santa Maria. Quality and condition have improved from Fair to Good. Italian and Yellow S/N have now started in Nogales Arizona.

Pluots are done for the season. Peaches are expected to last through the month of September and fade out in the front part of October. Nectarines will finish by the end of the month. Plums should last through October and possibly into November. Market prices have been consistent but firm. Small sizes continue to be very limited as most fruit is peaking in a 50ct or larger.

Eastern tomato supply remains light on all varieties this week. Local crops in the Carolinas, Michigan and Virginia are in the latter part of the season past their peak, and production is slowing down. Grape tomatoes are especially limited, as some growers that usually cover the transition between Northern and Southern growing areas have experienced planting gaps. Quincy, FL is still a few weeks away from breaking tomato fields and is expected to show some quality challenges as the effects of Hurricane Hermine its mark left in the east. Heavy wind and rains may also cause Central Florida to prolong the beginning of their season in October keeping the market interesting until the first part of next month.

California continues to get back in the swing of steady production after a bloom drop spiking the mature green market just a few weeks ago. All sizes are available and quality is reported as above average. Baja has become the main source for Roma tomatoes with improved production this week increasing crossings at the border, however there is still a demand exceeds supply scenario with Roma availability being limited in CA and out east. Weeks of intermittent extreme whether have made Grape tomato supply and quality a challenge but should improve as Baja gets further into its Fall plantings.