This week’s shipments officially starts the 4th of July business push, and, if it is like the past few holiday pushes, we don’t expect things to be too robust. With the economy forcing many families to switch from VAcations to STAYcations, we should see more backyard barbecues, and less eating out. This could help with sales of tree fruit, melons, and grape sales, just like the old days. As far as vegetables are concerned, there will be more and more backyard gardens around the country producing various items such as lettuce, berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans, and other items, which will probably slow down demand for those commodities. We don’t expect much in the way of strong demand for the big volume items such as head lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery.
Long range weather in the East is KEY to what the demand will be for many items. And, looking ahead, most of the East coast looks to have pretty decent and dry weather(with an occasional shower here and there), and temperatures hitting the high 80’s to mid 90’s.
Trucks are available to most areas of the country, but  “westbound” freight is still scarce, due to the economy. In fact, we have heard that trucks have to deadhead from the Pacific Northwest to California to get loads. So, rates are approaching their yearly highs, although not as high as last year. At least, so far.

LETTUCE–better supplies in Salinas and Santa Maria areas, and the market is starting to drift downward at the present time. With the high freight rates, we are still seeing lettuce in the $18-20.00 range back East, so retails are still fairly high, and not too appealing. We could see this market continue to drift downward as this week progresses.

BROCCOLI–a fairly wide range in price on bunch 14s, 18s, and crowns. In fact, we are seeing as much as a $5.00/box spread in the crown market, depending upon the shipper and area. Again, we don’t expect this market to do much this week, so shop around.

CAULIFLOWER–there are some deals out there on 9s and 12s, and we could see this market slip more as this week goes. Keep in mind that the market was pushed pretty high last week, so it has quite a bit to come down. Because of this, we don’t recommend you buy too heavily this week.

LEAF ITEMS–not much change in the market with green and red leaf. However, romaine is still very active and double the price of the other two.  Light supplies due to quality issues are allowing the shippers to keep pushing the romaine market.

CELERY–no change here. Oxnard has about another 2 weeks, or so, then all supplies will move to Salinas. For now, if you want to load out of Salinas, shippers are charging $1-2.00/box to bring the celery up from Oxnard for cross loading.

STRAWBERRIES–there are PLENTY of berries out there, and more to come. With so much competition from tree fruit, melons, and grapes, we don’t see much hope for the strawberry market for several weeks. GREAT item to advertise.