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