1/24/12

 Produce West would like to introduce a new addition to our team, Tim Tomasello. Tim brings to Produce West nearly 25 years of produce experience. He was most recently sales manager at the Canadian-based company, Ippolito Produce at their office in Salinas. He oversaw the numerous items that Ippolito handles, and was sales manager for 7 years. Tim has been married to wife, Kristen, for 23 years, raising 2 daughters, 17 and 12 years old. We look forward to Tim’s contribution to Produce West!

Long range weather in the desert growing regions show daily highs in the mid to high 70s, and lows in the high 40s. It’s too early to say if we are over the freeze period, as, if you recall, were hit in February of last year with below freezing temperatures that hurt the vegetables for weeks. Still, we like to think that once we get through January, we are almost “out of the woods”. Stay tuned.

Trucks are readily available, and rates are “negotiable”, although with high diesel costs, most truckers are bowing their backs at rates too low.

LETTUCE–some shippers came out firing this week with higher prices on wrap 24s and there currently is a wide range in price. The market has been on the floor so long, that they are trying anything to push their prices up. We understand that. We NEED the growers to make some money to stay in business. Quality is slowly improving, but there continues to be effects of the freeze that hit in early December. Size and weights are definitely getting better.

BROCCOLI–good deals on bunch and crowns, and the market is down. Supplies are coming out of Santa Maria, Coachella, Yuma, and Phoenix, and McAllen, Texas. Not to mention Virginia and Georgia.  With this many areas going, its difficult to get the market going in the direction the shippers would like to see it go. Quality is slowly improving here, too. There is purple cast showing up, due to the cold temperatures in the desert, but it really doesn’t affect the quality.

CAULIFLOWER–a bit of a range in price here, but mostly down. There are deals on 12s and 9s, and quality is improving here, as well. Most of the supplies are coming out of the desert growing regions, although there are some supplies out of Santa Maria.

LEAF ITEMS–still a strong market undertone on green leaf and romaine, although we feel things have peaked out. There could be deals on those 2 items by the weekend, so you might want to shop around. Red leaf has been $3-5.00/box less than green, which is unusual, so we don’t see much change in that. Still some blister, peel, and discoloration showing up, especially on romaine. Romaine heart deals are available, and the quality is better than carton romaine because they are able to trim the freeze-effected areas.

CELERY–tight supplies and HIGH market, especially on the larger sizes. In fact, there is as much as a $5.00/box SPREAD between 24s and 36s, which is worth considering. The cold weather in Oxnard has been the main reason why there aren’t as many large sizes available. The celery just won’t grow when its too cold, so there isn’t much in the way of big size 18s and 24s. Heart 12s and 18s are available.

ASPARAGUS–we are FINALLY seeing good numbers of asparagus in the desert, and prices have dropped nearly in half from two weeks ago. More shippers are now switching to 28/1# cartons, which gives you a better delivered price than 11/1# cartons. Still, you can easily get 11/1#, for ease of handling at the store level.

STRAWBERRIES–we finally got some much needed rain over the weekend, and it hit the berry fields, with as much as 2-3 inches in the Oxnard area. Keep in mind that we hadn’t gotten any rain since mid-November, so nearly 2 months of dry weather during our “rainy” season has been highly unusual. We appear to be more in a normal weather pattern now, with a few days of rain, followed by 4-5 dry days. Still, the berries out here are hard, large, and sweet. Most will make the ride to the east coast.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com