EASTER WEEK

For Christians, Jesus’ death and resurrection this weekend is the BEST time of the year!  For the produce business, this marks the first “spring” ad, followed by Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, then into summer. The big push this week, of course, were the standard favorites, asparagus and strawberries. BOTH were a challenge, to say the least. Berries were short ALL last week, while asparagus was short AND high priced! But, as usual, we get through it, and move on.

Weather-wise the next 10 days, show a chance of scattered showers early this week, and perhaps next week in the Salinas area, while Oxnard has less of a chance, but cooler temperatures. This will slow the berry deal down.

Trucks spiked up considerably in price last week, with Easter business, and have backed off a bit today and tomorrow. Still, with climbing fuel prices, rates are higher than normal for this time of year, which is basically setting the table for weeks to come.

LETTUCE–Huron should be done by this weekend, while Salinas looks to pick up more volume this week. They should, then it will be the main source of supplies for the next 6 months. The market is strong today, as supplies are light in Salinas, as everyone is trying to get out of Huron, due to marginal quality there. Right now, the market is such that $20 in East coast markets is the ticket. We could see this market get stronger as the week progresses.

BROCCOLI–there are deals on broccoli 14s, 18s, and crowns. Supplies are coming out of Salinas, Santa Maria, and San Joaquin Valley, and all areas are looking for business.

CAULIFLOWER–a wide range in price and quality. Supplies are coming out of Salinas and Santa Maria, and should start to increase by the end of this week. Right now the market is fairly active, but could start to drift downward by the end of this week.

CELERY–steady. Dole and T&A still lead the price list at $2-3.00/box over the general market. Even with the fairly low FOB prices that are out there, with the high freight rates, delivered costs are still such that a decent retail is tough to attain.

LEAF ITEMS–strong market with ALL items, red, green, and romaine. Huron is basically finished, and Salinas is where all the action is, and supplies are still trying to get going. It’s just been too cool out West, so these items are taking their sweet time. Shippers are taking advantage, and we are seeing fob prices in the $13-16.00 range.

STRAWBERRIES–HUGE demand last week, with cuts and pro rates. Today and tomorrow there appears to be plenty of fruit. However, this weekend starts early Mother’s Day business, and we should be back to a demand exceeds supply situation. Quality is improving, with hard, strong fruit. Color is not as good as we would like to see, with white shoulders and some green tips.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com