Besides being a very special time of year for people of Christian faith, this time of year also brings to mind several things. Spring, Easter egg hunts, family picnics and barbecues, longer days in the sun, and BASEBALL. In produce, several things immediately pop up. Asparagus, strawberries, and transitional moves from the desert to Salinas. All in all, and GREAT time of year.
Long range weather in the desert shows highs creeping up to the 90s,  Oxnard shows continued nice Spring weather, with days in the 60s and no rain. Salinas also shows nice days in the 60s, with a chance of rain this time next week.
Trucks are a bit tight this week for Easter pulls, and rates are continuing to slowly climb. Higher diesel prices are also contributing to the higher rates.

LETTUCE–the market is fairly flat, as the desert starts to wind down. Usually when we finish one deal and start another, quality starts to suffer. We are starting to experience some “tired” lettuce in the desert, while the new area of Huron is starting out small and light weight.

BROCCOLI–still a shortage of crown material and prices are high. The desert only has another week or two, and Salinas and Santa Maria are looking to increase supplies. Still, we are looking at light supplies of crowns all of this week, and into next.

CAULIFLOWER–good supplies currently. High retails have been set, and demand has really dropped off. This means prices are falling and there are good deals around. But, you need to take advantage of those deals NOW, because by this time next week, the market will probably be stronger. Supplies are coming out of the desert and Salinas/Santa Maria areas.

LEAF ITEMS–markets for red, green, and romaine are on the floor, and should stay that way for another week, at least. The desert should go through the middle of April, and then we move to Huron, Salinas, and Santa Maria.

CELERY–weaker trend here. Easter is usually a higher demand time for celery, and, while there are a LOT of ads out there, the market is not doing anything special. In fact, other than Dole, prices are lower.

STRAWBERRIES–quality-wise, this is the BEST time of year for California berries. With Easter coming fairly early, there are good supplies coming out of Florida AND California. Unfortunately, Florida is so cheap for Easter, California has no chance of competing. Another 2-3 weeks and Florida will be basically done, and California will be the only game in town. Upcoming supplies look good.

ASPARAGUS–it doesn’t appear there will be any shortage of supplies for Easter. Its a combination of things. First, Easter is early this year, and the desert is in full swing. Secondly, with our economy the way it is, folks aren’t really banging the doors down for “nonessential” items, such as asparagus.

Ed Brem
ed@producewest.com