Supplies remain sufficient as most shippers settle into one growing district. Demand is good for aggressively priced lettuce. Production is expected to be impacted with possible rain in the forecast for the balance of the week.  Quality remains varied although the range has narrowed.

Romaine and Romaine Hearts Production has slowly ramped up in Northern California. Supply of Romaine Hearts has also increased with steady demand as prices recede. Quality is improving with better color and texture

Red leaf, Greenleaf and Boston  Demand on Leaf has steadied as well as supplies.

Prices have firmed as supplies have lightened up. This is the time of year when both the Oxnard and Santa Maria districts start to have issues with seeder. The longer days and warmer temperatures tend to bring on seeder. Because of this yields will be lighter out of these districts over the next month or so. We could see pricing trend upwards going into next week.

Production has mostly transitioned to the North Coast as the Original and Heirloom varieties have become dominant. Currently heavy to Large sizes before medium and smaller sizes peak next month. Additional supplies of the thornless variety remain at discounted pricing. Take advantage of these superior edible chokes while in season. Quality should improve weekly and pricing will continue to follow

Good supplies available out of Santa Maria and Salinas. Quality looks very good with a nice green color and tight domes. Get with your Produce West sales representative for the opportunity buys.

Prices have come off slightly over the last few days. Good availability out of both Santa Maria and Salinas. Overall quality has been nice. We are seeing nice green jackets with clean white domes.

Good Demand has led to firmer pricing as well as declining production in Mexico. Limited production from Coastal California will begin later next month but overall supplies will decrease moving forward depending on quality from Mexico.

Mexico supplies have returned to full production as prices stabilize. Quality remains varied with an increasing amount of issues on arrival. Border delays remain an intermittent issue and have been magnified with the extra travel day.

Oxnard will reach peak levels next week as warmer temperatures are on the horizon, which will promote good plant development. While Oxnard numbers are good, Central Mexico will begin to decrease as more acres get removed. Organic strawberries out of California will begin to slowly ramp up in the Watsonville and Salinas areas.

Supply is increasing when compared to the previous weeks, and looking forward. supplies will reach the highest level in early May.

Volume will continue up-trending for the next six weeks towards the spring peak. Currently Mexico is producing the majority of the conventional volume, followed by Oxnard and the Watsonville area.

Central Mexico is producing large numbers, but those are expected to naturally decrease from this point on. Baja production will slightly increase over the next few weeks.

Light numbers of yellow peaches, white peaches, yellow nectarines and apricots are currently being harvested in California. White Nectarines are forecasted to start 5/7 and plums are forecasted to start at the end of May. The first of the season fruit is historically smaller sizing. Sizing will increase slowly as we progress into May. Despite rain this showers week, good weather is expected next week and better volumes are expected over the next 10 days. Mexican yellow peaches will start this weekend. Early harvests will be light and increase as the season progresses. Import stone fruit is mostly finished, with some storage fruit still available. Offshore red and black plums are still arriving every few days.

There is a wide range of quality being reported industry wide. East coast port congestion is resulting in fruit being stored longer and more age related quality issues. Be wary of cheap deals as shippers are attempting to clean up old inventories. Mexican volumes are expected to be heavy and the seasons will likely overlap. We will continue to see a wide range of quality on reds, greens and blacks over the next month as shippers clean up on offshore fruit.

The California navel season is nearing the end and valencia volume is slowly increasing. The navel season is finishing up quicker than expected, resulting in sharp pricing increases on most sizes. Demand for navels remains strong, as eating quality has been excellent. Overall valencia volumes are expected to be slightly less than last year, although supplies should still be adequate for the first 2 months of the summer season. Pricing should slowly decline as valencia volume improves over the next 2 weeks.

Good supplies and markets remain steady this week. Peak sizing on 115- 140 count fruit. Steading markets will likely continue through next week. Mostly fancy being packed, many of which are going into choice boxes, resulting in some very nice fruit overall. We may see a decrease in volume in early May due to transition between districts, and could stronger markets as a result.

The government has lifted some restrictions on the border. This will lessen the delay time to cross and will help keep up with demand. This will still take a few weeks to recover and get back to normal and we will likely see elevated pricing until some level of normality is established. Holy week and Easter holiday further lessened the supply chain. Harvests have resumed this week, although supplies will need some time to catch up with demand. High pricing will likely continue for at least the next 2 -3 weeks.

It seems all roads leading to Texas border crossings have become parking lots for trucks carrying produce from Mexico…Believe it or not, this backup is causing problems with border crossings in California and Nogales. The Texas market is being overwhelmed with activity and is sharply higher on all onion categories. This will be short lived, but if you’re a retailer and have Northwestern onions on your displays, look for sprouting to start any minute. California has started in a very light way and is not expected to get going until the middle of next week.

Michigan and Indiana were supposed to start in a small way with product being available next week…then it snowed. Indiana says it will have some product next week with 90+ degree temps forecasted for the weekend, but everyone knows the Midwest will always fool you. Mexico has finished 28/1’s and will be only !1/1’s for the remainder of their deal. California has product, but is held in

few hands and are able to get mid 50’s on their 28/1’s otherwise the low to mid $20’s on 11/2’s.

More of the same only worse, with a caveat. Worse because offshore supplies have continued to be very light in production and perhaps even lighter. Contracted demand is steady and product is very short, particularly for the spot market. Quality is okay. Sizes running mostly jbo 9, reg 9 and 12, but none of that matters with overall supplies being so slim. West Coast POEs are receiving next to nothing. Mexico has started with moderate demand, good quality and normal run of sizes (mostly 9s and 12) but retailers only turn to Mexico for product as a last resort ever since the first bacterial outbreak and recall years ago. With winter weather hanging on in much of the country, they have yet to turn that way and with light production there as well, they have had little impact on offshore prices. Domestic production will be late and not start until mid to end of May. Bottom line is cantaloupes will stay short supplied and high priced for the next month.

Much the same as cantaloupes with offshore production is quite short and spot market supplies nearly non-existent. Mexican dews are more accepted than cantaloupes but they do not have enough to take up the slack. Domestics are at least a month away. No change is expected ahead.

Cauliflower and Broccoli   Northern California production is in full swing.  The market remains mostly steady with some deals available depending on location . Hot and Cold temperatures should benefit quality .

Demand and Pricing continue steady with production mostly along the coast. Supplies are expected to be impacted by seeders through the end of the month.  Pricing will be elevated, especially  in Salinas as supplies are transferred from Oxnard.

Production has mostly transitioned to Northern California and quality remains varied with overall adequate supplies.

Carrot Production remains unstable especially Cellos with production areas transitioning . Continue to plan ahead to get full coverage.

Leaf, Iceberg & Romaine   Romaine and Romaine Heart supplies have improved with Deals available in Northern California. Variations in quality with some tip burn and russet spotting expected to continue as temperatures oscillate. Growers continue to deal with isolated insect pressure although substantially less than the desert.  Green and Redleaf  . Improved production with less insect pressure in Northern production areas. Occasional tip Burn but overall improving quality. Pricing should stabilize moving forward.

Lemons, Oranges, Limes and Grapefruit  Strong demand throughout the entire Citrus category due to strong retail sales and revived foodservice activity. The Lemon crop continues with strong supplies for the next couple weeks with transitioning production districts with mostly Fancy grades and steady pricing with continued additional volume from Mexico. Favorable deals remain on larger sizes. Lime quality and supplies remain inconsistent and very limited.  Navel production has peaked and will eventually give way to Valencia’s.  The crop remains heavier towards larger sizes with most of the smaller choice fruit going towards retail bags.  Mandarin season will be winding down with Golden Nuggets the primary variety available. Grapefruit supplies should be improving from Mexico and the Central Valley through Mid May.