May is always an exciting month for produce. Not only does Salinas start getting into full production with lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, leaf, strawberries, and countless other  items, but it signals the beginning to the Summer tree fruit, melons, and grapes season, not to mention peppers, corn, squashes, cucumbers and other items that have been in Florida, Nogales, and other areas of the country. California is truly a “produce paradise”!

Long range weather in central coast California shows no rain, but slightly cooler temperatures for this time of year. The central  valley, where the tree fruit deals are getting started, also show no rain for the next 10 days, with high creeping into the mid 80s, which is typical for this period.

Trucks are chomping at the bit for the fruit deal to get going, so they can start cranking up their rates. By the end of this month, for example, we should easily see rates up $1000 over what we are currently paying to the east coast.

LETTUCE–we’re still waiting for quality to improve, after the rains that hit the past few weeks, causing decay, red ribs, and other quality issues. Things WILL improve now, daily. May is historically the largest volume month of the year for lettuce, and usually some of the best quality. The market, strong last week, is starting to drift downward, and should be down $2-4.00/box by the end of the week, from current levels.

BROCCOLI–still plenty of supplies in Salinas, Santa Maria, and San Joaquin Valley, and the market is fairly wide spread, but towards the lower end. Good item to advertise and shop around for.

CAULIFLOWER–we see this market starting to make a move upward this week. Cauliflower is an item of highs and lows, based on production. There was a lot of product last week, and the market reflected it. Now, supplies are lightening up, and prices rising. Good item to load heavy early this week.

LEAF ITEMS–strong price runs on red and green the past few weeks, and the trend continues this week, although we do see an overall weakening by this weekend. Romaine supplies and market has remained steady. We are now starting to see better production and quality on all these leaf items, and should see the markets coming down. Romaine heart 12/3 are readily available, too.

CELERY–no change. Market flat on large size 18s, 24s, and 30s, slightly higher for 36s and 48s, but with high freight rates to the east coast, delivered prices are still up there. As mentioned, freight rates will continue to climb, making delivered prices for celery high and going higher. That won’t help the fob markets from getting off the floor. Also, Michigan isn’t that far away.

STRAWBERRIES–this week’s Mother’s Day pull is the second busiest week for berries, next to Easter. Orders are placed, and the market is solid this week, but with cooler temperatures the next few days, we could see a slight shortage. We don’t see the pro rates that we saw at Easter, but certainly tightening things up. Quality is mostly okay. Still some bruising and light colored fruit out there, but overall the fruit is mostly solid and eats well.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com