Conventional Items

Lettuce

Supplies remain sufficient for most shippers with varied quality and tiered pricing. Demand is good for aggressively priced lettuce. Below normal temperatures should continue to cap overall supplies at current levels . Quality remains varied with a wide range of Color, Texture and sizing. Production from Las Cruces , NM has commenced with excellent Quality to start their season providing reduced transportation cost to the East Coast.

Leaf Lettuce

Romaine and Romaine Hearts Production remains mostly steady with modest demand . Quality and overall cool temperatures has kept volume in check . Pricing on carton seems to have settled with volume deals available on romaine hearts.  Quality has receded with wide ranging color, texture , ribbiness along with fringe burn, mildew and russet spotting visible on arrivals. Romaine production from Las Cruces, NM is available for those looking to get excellent quality and lower their transportation costs.

Red leaf, green leaf and boston   Demand on Leaf has steadied with moderate supplies due to cooler temperatures and fair quality leading to lower yields.

Celery

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. Prices will continue to escalate as we head into May.

Artichokes

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

Broccoli

There is plenty of product to be had for everyone. Shippers are down and dirty on pricing and looking to move product. Run your price ideas by us!!

Cauliflower

Pricing continues to decline. There is good availability out of both Santa Maria and Salinas. Overall quality has been nice. We are seeing nice green jackets with clean white domes.

Brussels Sprouts

Good Demand continues with mostly strong pricing as production declines from Mexico. Limited production from Coastal California will boost overall supplies and keep pressure on pricing to remain affordable. Insect pressure in Mexico will dictate when their season comes to a close.

Green Onions

Mexico supplies have steadied after the Easter Holiday.  Quality remains varied with thrip damage causing some discoloration issues on arrival. Border delays remain an intermittent issue and have been magnified with the extra travel day.

Strawberries

Volumes will continue to increase into next week. The largest increases will be coming from the Northern district and Santa Maria. The rains we experienced last week did not have a large impact on the plants as many expected. Warm weather is expected this weekend which should translate to improved quality and larger berries. On the organic front, volumes will remain stable for the next few weeks before seeing a noticeable increase in numbers the week of May 9th

Blackberries

Good Numbers of Blackberries will continue into next week. Expect supplies out of Central Mexico to begin to decline beginning the 2nd week of May.In California, Oxnard will ramp up production and be the main contributor in late May.

Raspberries

We are peak supplies for this cycle as most of the volume continues to come from Central Mexico and Baja with Oxnard a distant third. Central Mexico’s numbers will begin to decline significantly as we move deeper into June. Watsonville, Salinas and Santa Maria will be underway the 1st week of May.

Blueberries

Florida has only 3 to 4 weeks left in their season. The Baja region is increasing toward its spring production over the next 2 to 3 weeks. Georgia is in peak production and the San Joaquin Valley will begin with light numbers next week.

Stone Fruit

Light harvests over the weekend in the California central valley as a result of recent rains. Harvests resume today on yellow peach, white peach and yellow nectarines. Apricots will start packing again by Monday. White Nectarines are forecasted to start in early May and plums are forecasted for the end of May. Sizing will increase slowly as we move through May. Great flavor reported on all varieties.

Grapes

Lighter supplies of red and green grapes this week. Port delays are resulting in fruit sitting for longer periods of time and we are seeing a wider range of quality . There are cheap grapes out there but know what you are getting. Shippers are looking to move fruit that has been sitting for longer periods of time. Cheaper fruit will likely have more issues. With port delays, there should be offshore fruit arriving on both coasts well into May . The Mexico season will overlap offshore arrivals, so at this point we do not expect dramatic market spikes in early May.

Oranges

Navel oranges are still available in limited supply. The season is expected to end around the middle of May for most growers, some may try to extend out the season into June. Valencias are now available and early quality reports are good, with good brix and color reported. Sizing is peaking on 72 and 88 count fruit. Markets will remain strong as the summer season approaches. Small sizes will continue to be very limited and pricing will be elevated on 113 and smaller fruit.

Lemons

District 1 is finishing up and most production will soon be out of district 2 for the next few weeks. There are still district 1 lemons available, although peak sizing will be mostly large for the remainder of the season. District 1 is currently the best quality, as quality reports are mixed on district 2 lemons. Peak sizing will be 95 and 115 count fruit. Good volumes reported on most sizes and shippers are now looking to promote.

Limes

Good quality overall this week coming out of Mexico. Some isolated reports of blanching, scarring and skin breakdown. Sizing is peaking on 200 and 230 count fruit. Long range supplies will likely be tight going into the summer and markets will remain elevated for the near future.

Cantaloupes

Off shore prices stayed high this week in spite of a bit more product arriving. Sizes are still running very large and quality it good. Contract demand has continued to take up most of the arrivals. Once again few if any supplies are coming into West Coast ports. Nogales is starting to pick up and the quality there is good as well, with sizes running mostly regular 9 and 12 count. However demand for Mexico cantaloupes is never robust as retailers shy away given their history of bacterial outbreaks. Thus prices are dropping in Mexico. Domestic is still not scheduled to start until mid-May with no real volume until late May. Procurement prospects should improve, especially if you can take Mexican product.

Honeydews

Like cantaloupes honeydew prices recently surged as offshore supplies fell short of contract commitments, leaving the spot market short of product and driving prices skyward, where they seemed to have leveled off. However Mexico is going and should be increasing supplies. Sizes in both areas are running musty regular 5s and 6s with some 8s in Mexico and some jbo 5s offshore. Quality is okay. Demand has yet to change as warm weather has yet to settle in around the country. Market should remain steady with dealing offshore and lower in Mexico ahead. Domestics will not start until late May.

Organic Items

OG Broccoli & Cauliflower

Cauliflower and Broccoli   Northern California production is in full swing.  The market has eased with an increasing amount of deals available depending on location . Hot and Cold temperatures should benefit quality .

OG Celery

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 until June.

OG Herbs & Bunch Greens

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

OG Root Vegetables

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

OG Leaf and Iceberg Lettuce

Leaf, Iceberg & Romaine   Romaine and Romaine Heart supplies have improved although quality remains mostly fair with tip burn, russet spotting and rib discoloration expected to continue as temperatures and insect pressure oscillate.  Green and Red leaf  . Overall supplies have improved although they remain varied throughout the Valley.  Quality continues to vary as well with sporadic issues with tip burn , russet spotting and continued insect pressure from all Northern California production areas .

OG Citrus

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 good supplies from the Southern California District as well as Mexico.  Lime quality and supplies remain inconsistent and very limited.  Navel production has mostly finished and transition to Valencia’s will slowly begin to ramp up. Grapefruit supplies should be improving from Mexico and the Central Valley through Mid May.