Although summer doesn’t officially start until next week, schools are out and vacations are starting. Because of our continuing slow economy, “staycations” will, once again, be the norm.  But, that also means shifting of produce needs from the typical cooking vegetables and lettuce salads, to fruit salads and picnic items. More ads and better demand on tree fruits, melons, and grapes, and less demand for lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, leaf, etc.

Long range weather forecasts show mild, sunny days in the Salinas area and 90s in the Fresno fruit regions, all typical for this time of year.

Trucks, which were EXTREMELY tight and high priced last week, are a bit easier to find today, and rates are a bit lower. Keep in mind that last week rates were hovering around $8000-8500 to the East coast, so even paying $7500 today, is still high. Fourth of July business kicks in next week, so demand should pick right back up.

LETTUCE–while demand is only fair, the market is still hanging around $15-16.00 FOB, which puts it $22-25.00 to the East coast, high for any decent retail. We feel this market is top heavy, and should start to come down this week. Quality is improving every day, with better size and weights.

BROCCOLI–flat market. As mentioned, folks get away from the “cooking” vegetables this time of year, and look for items like tree fruit, melons, and grapes to satisfy. Shippers out west basically plan on this, and don’t plant heavy during the summer months, hoping to keep the market from going too low. Still, there is quite a bit of broccoli around, and the market is flat at $6.00, or so, FOB, which puts it $11.50-12.50 delivered to the East.

CAULIFLOWER–like broccoli, demand is light and prices are fairly flat, although much more wide ranged than broccoli. FOB prices are ranging from $6.00 to $9.50, depending upon the label and shipper.

LEAF ITEMS–romaine still remains flat, as does red leaf. Green leaf, for some reason, is getting $4-5.00/box more than its counterpart, red leaf. More and more local deals are starting up throughout the Midwest and East, so we should see all of the leaf markets flat by this time next week.

CELERY–high freight rates are catching up with the FOB prices. In order to move celery, shippers are forced to drop their prices, to allow for a decent delivered price. The best deals are still on the larger size 18s and 24s, with as much as a $5.00/box SPREAD between those sizes and the 36s and 48s. However, delivered prices of celery are still in the mid-$20s, which makes retail pricing difficult.

STRAWBERRIES–even Driscoll looking for business. This deal has come to a complete stop, as the terminal markets are receiving load after load of “unpriced” fruit. And, we don’t expect things to improve for the next several weeks, at least. There is not only berries coming on in big numbers, but demand is falling off, as attention switches to tree fruit, melons, and grapes.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com

For several reasons, trucks have been tight the past few weeks, and look to be even TIGHTER in the coming weeks. A combination of tighter emission standards making it more expensive to run trucks, and the fact that the economy is still slow. We are also seeing increased demand for rigs to haul the tree fruit, grapes, and melons, which we see this time of year. Business from East to West is slow, and there just aren’t many trucks hauling various items, such as furniture, paper goods, dairy products, machine parts, you name it, and the business just isn’t there. Truckers are “dead heading” their rigs from as far East as the Midwest to California to pick up freight. This means that the truck is coming EMPTY to pick up high-priced produce loads. Also, truckers are coming empty from Oregon and Washington to California, due to the lack of freight in those areas, as well. Because of this, Florida, for instance is charging as much as $4500 to the Eastern seaboard for produce loads. It’s no wonder why quotes as high as $8000-8500 for loads to the East coast from California are becoming commonplace. Add that to FOB prices, and you’ve got expensive delivered prices, regardless of the FOB.

Long range weather show more warmer, seasonal temperatures for Western fruits and vegetables, FINALLY.  This will help bring on more product.  As mentioned, continuing higher freights as we get into the summer mode. We should see rates peak out by 4th of July.

LETTUCE–still tight supplies and prices strong at $14-16.00 FOB, loading in the Salinas and Santa Maria areas. Now that our weather is warming up, we should see better supplies coming on, and the market drop, possibly as early as this weekend.

BROCCOLI–fields still trying to get caught up, after the past several weeks of below normal temperatures. As mentioned with lettuce, we should see supplies start to increase, and prices come down. Right now, bunch 14s and 18s are strong at $11-13.00 FOB, and crowns $2.00/box, or so, higher. The crown market may stay strong, as it takes a bit longer for those fields to get back to normal.

CAULIFLOWER–with the high retail prices throughout the country, demand has dropped off considerably, and it shows in the market. 12s are priced in the $8-10.00 range, with 9s and 16s a dollar lower. We don’t see much change in the market this week.

LEAF ITEMS–still quite a spread in price between green leaf and red leaf, with green demanding nearly double the $7-8.00 FOB that red is, currently. Romaine is still fairly flat, at $6.00-7.00 FOB, but with the high freight rates, it still gets up to $14-16.00 delivered to the East coast. We see the leaf market remaining steady this week.

CELERY–the high freight rates appear to be finally catching up with the high celery market. If you are paying, say, $8000 for a load of celery to the East, and you only get about 680 boxes on a load, that is a freight cost of close to $12.00/box!! That is why the FOB market is softening up, even though the shippers don’t want to admit it. We see it coming.

STRAWBERRIES–now that Memorial Day is over, and our weather out West is finally warming up, we will start to see better berry supplies and the market start to soften. Also, more stores are looking to advertise seasonal fruits, such as peaches, plums, nectarines, melons, and grapes, which means less space on the shelves for berries.  Today and tomorrow there will still be decent action, but we see demand slowing by this weekend. Even Driscoll will be looking for business by this time next week.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com

www.producewest.com

The National Weather Service reports that northern California is experiencing the coldest average temperatures in May since 1880. While the growing areas for fruits and vegetables are more considered “central” California, we have had much the same. In fact, the whole state has had one of the coldest Mays on record. It has slowed the growth and production of just about all items, including strawberries, cherries, tree fruit, melons, and most of the vegetable items. While some items are waiting for the warmer temperatures to bring on product, other items will never get back what has been lost.

Trucks are extremely tight this week, as Memorial Day weekend approaches, and rates are easily into the $7000’s to the East coast. Not just because of the lack of trucks, but the lack of West bound freight is hurting the availability of rigs. Expect rates to continue their climb upward.

Long range weather continues this week with below normal temperatures and even threats of rain ALL this week. Not good.

LETTUCE–market starting to come down, as more stores are looking to push “fruit” salads, instead of “lettuce” salads. The cold temperatures have slowed growth and production, but demand has also slowed due to the aforementioned reason. But, due to the high freight costs, delivered prices of wrap 24s are easily over $20.00 on East coast markets.

BROCCOLI–still tight supplies of crowns and that market remains strong. We are looking at fob prices of $15-18.00, which puts delivered prices well over $20.00. Bunch 14s and 18s are more available and priced $2-3.00/box cheaper.

CAULIFLOWER–this is a true reflection of how the cold temperatures are affecting an item. The cauliflower market has been over $20 fob for the past 4 weeks, and looking to make it 5 weeks. As long as the temperatures stay in the 50’s and low 60’s, as it’s been, supplies just won’t come on. Expect this market to remain active all week, and priced high, although we could start to see a range in price as this week progresses.

LEAF ITEMS–again, the cold weather is holding back supplies, keeping the fob markets for romaine, boston, red, and green leaf in the $12-15.00 range, which means delivered prices on the high priced trucks $20 and higher on all leaf items.

CELERY–strong, active market on ALL sizes. With the high freight rates pushing the cost of a box of celery to $10.00/box to the East, it’s not hard to imagine the price of celery upwards of $25-30.00/box. We don’t see this market coming down any time soon.

STRAWBERRIES–now that Memorial Day business is basically done, except for West coast business, you’d think we’d see the market start to come down. In fact, it was over a month ago that shippers were talking about a FLOOD of supplies by mid-May. But, with the cold, sometimes wet weather, supplies are still way down. In fact, Driscoll is prorating 30-50%. One grower was telling me that their volume on Salinas/Watsonville fields will be down 1000 cartons per acre this spring because of the record breaking temperatures.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com

www.producewest.com

Now that spring is in full bloom we have been waiting for the warmer weather that is normal this time of year, however, it still feels like winter for most of the west coast.  National news claims this has been the warmest year on record, but so far we are below average in the Salinas and San Joaquin valleys.  Salinas has been hit very hard with rain and overall quality has suffered.  With more rain and cold weather forecasted this week, we expect more of the same issues we faced last week.

Truck rates are through the roof, averaging in the mid to upper 6 thousands.   Diesel fuel prices have been well into the mid 3 dollar range, giving truckers more ammunition to spike up rates.  Truck emission regulations that went into effect a few months ago are still weighing heavy on truckers, new engine parts can be faulty, resulting in more breakdowns than we are used to.  Our hope is that the bugs will eventually be worked out and things will be back to normal.

LETTUCE — cooler weather has hit the Salinas lettuce crop pretty hard.  Supplies are down and shippers don’t have ample supply just yet.  Russet spotting has been a prevalent issue, but crews are catching the problems in the field before they lead to bigger problems.  We are still seeing some damage from the heavy rains we received a few weeks ago, but issues are becoming fewer and quality is improving.  As the weather warms in the coming weeks, supply will improve.

BROCCOLI — We have been seeing this item tighten up over the past week and a half.  Usually broccoli is the one of the first plants to be affected by the cooler temperatures, resulting in slower growth and purpling. Although numbers are down, quality is good, and we have seen very few quality problems these past few weeks.  We have plenty of product broccoli in the field, but little to none in the coolers and we are still a week or two behind normal development stages for this time of year. Get your broccoli orders in early if possible.

CAULIFLOWER — same situation here as with broccoli, cooler weather has slowed growth, resulting in fewer numbers industry wide.  Quality was been good, no sun damage for obvious reasons.  We are in the middle of a planting gap for both broccoli and cauliflower and it will continue into next week.  After next week we will see and improvement in supply.

LEAF ITEMS — Plenty of red leaf and romaine, green leaf is a little tighter.  Most quality problems that had derived from the heavy rains have been cleaned up and we are back to normal product.

CELERY — The good news is there is little or no seeder problems to speak of.  The bad news is product is getting much tighter.  It will be evident later this week and we could see the market jump by a few dollars. Sizes are more balanced than they had been in the past few weeks but supply is drying up due to the planting gaps caused by the heavy rains a few weeks ago.

STRAWBERRIES — Still very tight, and shorter supply is expected towards the end of this week.  With rain in the forecast early this week, we could see a significant impact on the berry crop.  Currently there are few quality issues and the berries are on the larger size, but if we get rain this week, the game could change completely. Get your orders in asap.

ASPARAGUS — Product is tight because of the cooler weather.  Quality has been ok, very few issues.  They are leaning more towards the smaller sizes than before.  It will be a while before we can dig our way out of the current planting gaps, and if weather doesn’t improve, we could see the market shoot up the the high dollar range.

Ed Brem

Produce West Inc.

www.producewest.com

ed@producewest.com

Unusually cool weather in California has really slowed growth and harvesting of several items that are trying to come on. Head lettuce, green leaf, cauliflower, celery, strawberries, and various other items are just not coming, and the stronger markets are reflecting that.

Long range weather in Central California show continued cool weather, with a chance of rain today, but clear after that. Our rain should be just about totally done now until fall. That is under normal weather patterns. However, this year has been ANYTHING but normal.

Trucks have been a bit scarce these past 2 weeks, going in to Mother’s Day. With Memorial Day business scheduled to start pulling at the end of next week, expect things to get tighter and more expensive.

LETTUCE–even though May is the biggest volume month for lettuce of the year, supplies have been affected by the off and on rains and cool temperatures. Due to this, right now we are in a bit of a gap, and the market is VERY active, with prices getting near $18-20 fob. There are quite a few ads out there, so demand is solid.

BROCCOLI–good supplies and market for bunch 14s and 18s. Crowns, while still available and currently priced right, look to lighten up in supplies by the end of this week, with a bit of a gap going into next week. Prices should strengthen.

CAULIFLOWER–cooler temperatures continue to keep supplies light, and market very strong. We NEED warmer days to bring on supplies. The flower is out there, it just needs a PUSH

LEAF ITEMS–still plenty of romaine and red leaf, but green leaf still short, and nearly double the price of red leaf. Romaine is a good one to advertise.

CELERY–still a huge price gap between Dole, T&A, and the rest of the shippers, with as much as a $5-6.00/box spread in price. These 2 shippers need a reality check, but as long as their customers don’t mind paying their prices, they will continue to walk the walk. With freight rates continuing to go up, we are seeing a box of celery costing as much as $10.00/box for just freight to the East coast. It WILL get worse as the summer gets closer.

STRAWBERRIES–shippers keep talking about supplies picking up, but every week it remains short and orders get pro rated. This is all weather related. Scattered rain, and continued cool temperatures keep hurting supplies. Next week there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, with supplies expected to improve considerably.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com

After near-record rains in California for April, we are FINALLY getting our wonderful spring weather! Rain and cold temperatures have affected nearly all vegetable items coming out of Northern and Central California–strawberries, lettuce, leaf items, cauliflower, and celery. Even though we aren’t out of the woods yet, clear, mild weather is forecasted for the next 10 days, which will help bring on supplies and help improve overall quality. It may take a while, but, by this time next week, we should have better news to report.

Trucks are available, and rates are continuing their slow climb upwards, although with Mother’s Day business done, we won’t see much more of a bump in rates until Memorial Day period, which will be in about 3 weeks.

LETTUCE–a wide range in price and quality. We have moved just about 100% of supplies to the Salinas and Santa Maria areas, and will be here until November.  We have been fighting quality for the past few weeks, what with the rain and cold we’ve had. Expect quality to improve, now that our weather has.

BROCCOLI–good supplies of bunch 14s and 18s, as well as crowns. However, there are signs that crowns could tighten up starting next week. Some shippers report a gap in crown material starting as early as this weekend. We’ll see.

CAULIFLOWER–still tight supplies and crazy market. Shippers all quoting in the low to mid $20s for 12s and 9s. But, be aware. Now that retail prices are adjusting, and our weather starting to improve, we should see supplies pick up and prices drop. You DON’T want to get stuck with high priced cauliflower heading your way.

LEAF ITEMS–there seems to be plenty of romaine, but light supplies of red, green, and boston lettuces. Prices of the latter 3 items are $14-16.00 FOB and should hold there this week. We should see improved supplies and weaker markets by this time next week.

CELERY–very FIRM market on ALL sizes, especially on the 30s and 36s. With higher freight rates, celery is the main item that suffers. We are now seeing a box of celery costing $8.00-10.00/box JUST for freight to the far East coast. That puts delivered prices of celery in the range of $24-28.00. Hearts are also available, and are expensive, as well.

STRAWBERRIES–still a shortage out west for berries. Orders today showing HEAVY pro rates, especially from shippers like Driscoll. Today and tomorrow are the last days for any Mother’s Day business, and with our weather improving, we should see things ease up by the end of this week. There looks to be A LOT of berries coming on by next week.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.

It’s hard to imagine that we are already looking to the first week in May, and Mother’s Day business! This is a big week for several items, but mainly STRAWBERRIES. And, unfortunately, more rain is forecasted this week, which will keep things messed up this week, to be sure.

Long range weather shows rain showers forecasted for tomorrow and Wednesday, followed by cooler temperatures for the end of the week. California can’t seem to get into a spring pattern.

Trucks continue to be tight for most areas of the country, and rates are going up to levels that we normally see for the Summer. NOT a good sign.

LETTUCE–plenty of product around, and prices are fairly wide ranged, with as much as a $4-5.00/box SPREAD on wrap 24s. Supplies are all but finished in Huron, so now we are concentrating on Salinas and Santa Maria. We will be here until October.

BROCCOLI–good supplies and attractive prices for bunch 14s and 18s, while crowns are a bit more scarce, and priced $2-3.00/box higher than bunch. Supplies mostly coming out of Salinas and Santa Maria areas, with a few shippers going in Oxnard.

CAULIFLOWER–supplies still VERY tight this week, and prices are easily in the low to mid $20’s FOB. With rain and cooler temperatures forecasted for this week, supplies will remain light, and prices strong.

LEAF ITEMS–not much change in prices on red, green, boston, and romaine. There are deals out there, depending upon the area and shipper, so shop around. Stay away from Huron. Anything coming out of there has bug issues. Salinas and Santa Maria are the areas to be.

CELERY–continued wide range in prices on all sizes, depending upon the shipper, with Dole leading the way. They are basically priced $2-4.00/box MORE than the mostly market.

STRAWBERRIES–Mother’s Day business is getting going, and supplies are TIGHT, with pro rates the norm, especially from Driscoll. With rain coming in, it will get WORSE. Hopefully, we will only get a few sprinkles, as these later storms usually don’t have the punch of the winter storms. Still, we will experience cooler temperatures that will keep supplies VERY tight ALL week.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com

We can’t seem to get into our Spring weather here in “sunny” California. Normally after the first of April, we basically shut off the faucet and won’t get any more measurable rain until October or November. This year has been goofy. We are forecasted for more rain Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, with with a possibility of more for  next week. This continues to mess up the the strawberries, most of all.
Long range weather shows rain scheduled in the Salinas and Oxnard areas for tomorrow and Wednesday, then clearing for the weekend. This also means cooler temperatures.
Trucks are more abundant early this week, after nearly impossible last weekend. Still, rates are continuing their slow climb upward as we get into later Spring.

LETTUCE–Huron is rapidly winding down, and Salinas is starting to pick up some numbers. There is also lettuce available in Santa Maria, and even the desert. With this kind of spread in regions, the market is also wide spread. In fact, there is as much as a $5.00/box SPREAD in the market on wrap 24s. The best lettuce is probably coming out of Salinas.

BROCCOLI–steady prices on bunch and crowns. The overall market is pretty good for the shippers, and they would be happy to keep prices where they are.

CAULIFLOWER–still VERY light supplies on all sizes, and  fob prices are still in the low $20’s. This is mainly due to the cooler temperatures and persistent threats of rain. Retails are now being adjusted at the receiving end, so we should see demand start to drop off towards the end of this week.

LEAF ITEMS–fairly wide range in  prices for red, green, and romaine. Supplies are coming out of the desert, Oxnard, Santa Maria, Huron, and Oxnard. It’s tough to find the best deals, but if you look hard enough, they are there.

CELERY–continued fair demand and steady prices. There are deals out there on the “non preferred” labels, so look around.

STRAWBERRIES–last weekend was a REAL mess. No supplies to speak of, and just about everyone was pro rating orders. ESPECIALLY Driscoll, with pro rates exceeding 75%. This early week isn’t much better, especially with rain coming in tomorrow and the next day. Most receivers are trying to front load product today.

Ed Brem
ed@producewest.com

LETTUCE–rain is falling in Huron, where most of the lettuce is coming from, and is slowing down harvesting. But, no rain is forecasted for the rest of the week, so things should settle back to normal fairly quickly. There ARE a few shippers still going in Yuma, but that deal should be totally finished by next week. The overall market is fairly wide ranged, with as much as a $5.00/box spread, depending upon the shipper, area, and quality.

BROCCOLI–supplies are coming from Salinas to Yuma, and all points in between. With that kind of geographic spread, we are seeing an equal spread in the market. Also, we are seeing more crowns, which is now priced more normal to the bunch/crown ratio.

CAULIFLOWER–still good supplies and low market for both 9s and 12s. Check around for deals in Salinas, Santa Maria, and the desert.

LEAF ITEMS–supplies still coming out of the desert, as well as Huron, Oxnard, and Santa Maria. Like other items listed above, there are deals, depending upon the area and shipper.

CELERY–rain has been falling in Oxnard today, but will clear out later tonight. Still, harvesting has been slowed today, and you should expect to see mud and wet product, especially in the sleeve. The overall market is hanging in pretty firm, with Dole and T&A demanding as much as $5.00/box between them and the mostly market.

STRAWBERRIES–rain has fallen today in Oxnard and Santa Maria, which actually is welcome. There is just TOO much product out here. Oxnard only as another 2-3 weeks for the most part, then we will switch to Santa Maria and Salinas/Watsonville. Marketwise, there continues to be deals out there.

ASPARAGUS–as we enter the first week in April, the desert usually shuts down. But, the weather hasn’t been too warm yet, so they continue to produce. That is fine, since the Stoction/Lodi has had unseasonably cold, wet weather, which has slowed that deal. Since Easter is behind us, there are some deals out there, especially in the desert.

Ed Brem
ed@producewest.com

This is the final week for the majority of product loading in the desert areas. While some shippers will continue to go on various items there for a few more weeks, the major items, such as lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, leaf, and celery, will move northward. But, with this transitional time comes its share of issues. We will now have lettuce in the Huron, Salinas, Santa Maria, and what is left in the desert. The same goes for broccoli and cauliflower. Trucks, which are already starting to tighten up, will be looking for more money because of the extra miles coming to these new areas. With good action and movement last week on items such as strawberries, asparagus, broccoli crowns, and assorted other items, things have really slowed down, so its time to get to work and PROMOTE!!
Long range weather forecast show a few changes. We are forecasted for some rain this week in Salinas and the rest of central California. It looks like we get some precipitation in the berry country of Oxnard and Santa Maria. We haven’t had any rain for almost a month, so it may cause some problems, depending upon how much we get.
Trucks, as mentioned above, are looking for more money as we get into April. Also, now that we are moving out of the desert and going north,  truckers will be looking for more money there, as well. Also, keep in mind that as we move to Salinas, that adds an additional 7-8 hours to the hauling time.

LETTUCE–we are starting to see a wider range in price as we see more areas kick in. Overall,  the market is a bit stronger early week, and shippers could look for more. But, demand is only fair, so they may hit some resistance. Quality is another factor. As the desert finishes, that lettuce is looking tired. The new areas on Huron and Salinas are starting out with small to medium head size, hard, and some internal problems. VERY typical for transition time.

BROCCOLI–definitely more crowns showing up now. If you recall, the past 3 weeks there has been  a REAL challenge for crowns, with as much as a $5-7.00/box SPREAD. There continues to be an abnormal spread, but not nearly as bad, with only $2-4.00/box range between bunch and crowns. This will narrow even more as crown supplies continue to improve.

CAULIFLOWER–still some good deals on 12s. We anticipate that as our weather turns cooler this week, supplies will lighten, and the market will certainly go up. NOW is the time to jump on the deals.

LEAF ITEMS–supplies coming from around 6 different areas. Yuma, Coachella, Oxnard, Santa Maria, Salinas, and Huron. This is creating a wide range in price for red, green, boston, and romaine, with ALL trending lower.

CELERY–as the desert finishes, the shift for supplies goes almost exclusively to Oxnard. With that,  the overall market is stronger, especially with the “preferred” labels such as Dole, T&A, and Duda. Rain is forecasted in Oxnard later this week, which won’t help harvesting.

STRAWBERRIES–berries out west are still going for SONG. The “perfect storm” has happened, with Florida pumping out volume and California no where to go with their product. However, we are forecasted for rain in Oxnard later this week, which could cut supplies. Shipper will actually WELCOME that.

ASPARAGUS–we got through Easter demand without a scratch. Lots of ads, and supplies were there. Few, if any, pro rates. Nice to see that for a change. Currently, the market is strong, with West coast business still going out today and tomorrow.

Ed Brem
ed@producewest.com