The Source - September 8, 2015

California Galas are cleaning up and the availability is light. There is still some volume left on some sizes but lots of manifest holes. Fujis are steady on all sizes and they are spread evenly from large to small fruit. Granny-smith apples are peaking on 88/100s but they are also spread fairly evenly from large to small. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Washington Red Delicious market continues to rise due to stronger demand and lighter supplies. Most shippers are still peaking on higher grade 88s and larger. Small size red delicious remain extremely short. Most shippers are finished or close with Earligolds and Gingergolds. A few suppliers have packed golden delicious and they peaked on premium grade 100/113s. New crop Granny smith are also available and they have better availability of 88s and smaller. Washington Galas are steady to slightly lower and they are peaking on 100/113s. The Galas are currently producing a lot of small fruit. The early Fujis are heavier to large fruit but supplies are light as only a couple shippers have packed.
Michigan Paula reds and Gingergolds are steady but already starting to clean up. 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.
New York Macs, Jonamacs, Paula reds and Gingergolds are all steady with light availability. The quality has been good on all varieties.

This market is firm. 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 years 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:
Quality will suffer from the excessive heat. You will see softer fruit, juicing and weakened fruit overall. We will also be very limited with availability.

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:
Very limited availability out of the Pacific Northwest and gapping in volume as the offshore and Mexico growing areas have not yet began to supply with good volume. Expected shortages are forecasted throughout September.

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:
Quality will suffer from the excessive heat. You will see softer fruit, juicing and weakened fruit overall. We will also be limited with availability.

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.

Alerts:
The current forecasted excessive heat in the day time and warm overnight temperatures will only further the decline of berry quality. Expect fruit to be soft, full-red to overripe, bruised and very small.

This market has remained steady on bunched product, but crowns continue to be light in availability in all the growing regions. Processors continue to be watching numbers, but supplies are a little better compared to last week. 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 moderate production for the entire week. Production out of Mexico as well as McAllen is moderate at best.

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 softened dramatically. Although production is moderate, demand has fallen off. 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. This market may get stronger by the end of the week. Yields will play a big factor to where this market goes. Heat is expected to swelter in the Salinas valley all week.

This market is steady. Santa Maria's production is moderate at best on large sizes. Supplies out of the Michigan region are steady like in past weeks. 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 is softer in all the growing regions. The Baja region of Mexico has moderate to light supplies available. Production in Salinas as well as Southern California is better compared to past weeks. Some seeder and black coloring on the product has been reported upon arrivals from all of the growing areas.

Demand remains very high and we are seeing extreme demand exceeding supplies on 165s and larger and on 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 of fruit. Expect this shortage to go until we start the desert crop 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 starts.

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 have good demand on limes right now.

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.

The green seedless grape market has steadied out at current levels. Some shippers are still discounting the medium large Thompson Seedless as they attempt to clean up their inventory of these. Quality is generally reported as good on the Thompsons and excellent on the Autumn Kings.

The market on red seedless grapes is steady with good demand and adequate supply of all sizes. Crimsons have become the predominant variety for the medium large with Scarlett Royals and Vintage Reds for the large and extra large fruit. Quality is generally reported as excellent on all.

This market is active. 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 moderate at best. All sizing is available, with the heavier availability coming in small and medium packs.

This market is steady like in past weeks. 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 steady to begin the week. There is a bit of a pricing gap depending on the supplier in the marketplace. Temperatures have been very high in all the growing areas. There have been issues on quality. These issues are small and irregular head size, high core, 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 40-46 pounds. Salinas and Santa Maria are the two main growing areas at this time. Production in Santa Maria is moderate at best.

Leaf items are steady to begin the week. High temperatures throughout California this past week will inevitably take its toll on leaf items. Expect issues like fringe burn, small and irregular sizing, insects, dehydration 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 steady 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 right now. The peak sizes at the moment are 12ct and 15ct, however the larger sizes are picking up volume. The West Side has very good quality and sugar contents. The current market on all sizes is steady for now. We continue to experience decent demand for cantaloupes.

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.

The yellow onion market is steady out of Idaho/Oregon, Washington and California. There are some deals being made on small jumbos running 40% 3 1/2 and medium yellows. California will finish for the season by the end of next week and isn't a factor in the market. The red market is steady out of all areas and is still being controlled by Washington which has the most volume. Market on white onions is steady. Quality is good out of all areas. Look for the market to stay steady at these levels till everything is in storage which is about two to three weeks away.

California Bartlett pears are peaking on US #1 80-100s but they have little if any 120-size and smaller. The market is steady but the availability is light as they near the end of the season. Demand is lighter since Washington has started packing. 120-size and smaller are no longer available. California Crimson pears are peaking on 45-55 count half cartons and the market is steady to slightly lower. California Bosc pears are steady to lower 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 with fair demand. Washington red pears are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 45-50 half cartons. A couple shippers have started packing Bosc and they are peaking on smaller fruit.

Potato market is steady out of Idaho on all sizes and packs. Idaho has a lot of size (70 count and larger) in the fields they are in currently, which is dragging the market down in the other growing areas (Washington, Colorado and Wisconsin) on these large cartons. Quality is being reported as good out of all areas. I do not see this changing until all of the potatoes are in storage which will happen sometime in October. The other growing areas are starting to report that they will be getting into better sized potatoes later this week.

Stockton, California - Reds, whites, and golds are all steady and all are peaking on A-size. Premium/Baker red and gold availability is still limited. The quality has been good.
Western Washington - Reds and golds are steady and whites are now available. 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 only with limited volume. The quality has ranged from good to fair but the quality is improving.
Wisconsin - Red Bs are up slightly but all other sizes and colors are steady. Premium and baker reds and golds are still limited as are gold Cs. Both colors are peaking on A-size. The quality is good.
Minnesota - Red A and B-size are up slightly and all other sizes and colors are steady. Both colors are peaking on A-size with good quality and color. Minnesota has good volume of #2 A-size reds.

The peach market is about steady with adequate supplies of large tray pack yellow peaches and some of the larger size volume fills. Peaches will be available through the month of September as the late varieties are harvested. The plum market is stronger as supplies tighten up. Plums will be available for the next 3-4 weeks as well but in increasingly lighter volumes. Sizing is heavy to the larger fruit and currently heavier to the black varieties. Pomegranates are more readily available from all shippers as we move into the fall crop. Supplies of Pomegranates are projected to be down 20% of normal due to a lack of water.

Rounds - The market is strong. Still relying on the local growers to come up with much needed volume. Weather still a factor in regards to availability. Pricing will remain steady for the rest of the week. Quality is good.
Roma - The market is steady. Volume continuing to rise this week in Mexico. Market will remain steady this week with a slight drop in pricing. Quality is good.
Cherry/Grape - Cherry market is strong. Just not enough volume to cover demand. The market will remain strong with a slight increase in pricing due to availability. Quality is fair. Grape market is strong with Virginia/Maryland producing decent volume. Quality still better than in the west. Quality is good.

Rounds - The market is steady. Still short in Central California but enough supply for the current demand. Vine Ripe tomatoes from Mexico are in good volume and the market price has dropped. Look for rounds to remain steady price wise this week. Quality is good.
Romas - The market is steady. Good volume in California and Mexico has brought the price down. Market should see this slight decrease for the rest of this week. Quality is good.
Cherry/Grapes - Cherry market is strong. School volumes have created an even larger supply to demand gap. If you are still willing to pay the elevated costs you may find some availability. Quality is Fair. Grape market is steady. Due to some quality issues the grape tomato market had jumped the last couple weeks. Currently we are seeing better volumes and quality. The market should stay steady this week price wise with a slight decrease. Quality is good.