With the exception of a few items, it appears there will be lots of product available for the next few weeks. Head lettuce, romaine, green, red leaf, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and strawberries all look to be in abundant supply. This is good and bad news. Good news, in that prices should be fairly low, so retails should be very attractive for the consumer. Bad news, in that we expect some shippers, because they will have a tough time “selling” their product, will instead be sending various items to the terminal markets just to get rid of it. That means that no matter what price you buy it for out here, someone will be cheaper at the other end.
Long rang weather in Salinas shows at, or below normal temperatures for this time of year. No rain, but, cooler weather may slow items such are strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, along with various vegetable items such as cauliflower. The tree fruit country around Fresno shows temperatures in the 90s, which is normal for this time of year.
Trucks will start tightening up a bit, as more and more tree fruit, melons, and grapes start coming on. Rates are a bit lower than this time last year, so we see truckers trying to bump them up.

LETTUCE–plenty of lettuce out there, and prices are about bottoming out. Quality is mostly good, so this is a good combination. Still, with freight rates climbing, delivered prices won’t necessarily reflect the lower fob prices.

BROCCOLI–no problem with supplies for bunch 14s, 18s, and crowns. Prices are down to near the bottom, and quality is nice either in Salinas or Santa Maria.

CAULIFLOWER–better supplies are available now, and prices are falling. But, with the below normal temperatures we are getting, we could see a possible gap coming on by the end of this week. This means the shippers could be looking to bump up their prices by the end of this week.

LEAF ITEMS–good supplies of green leaf, red leaf, romaine, and boston, and prices are at, or getting near the bottom. Local leaf is coming on, as well, so we don’t see these markets doing much for some time.

CELERY–plenty of supplies, and prices are low. With freight rates climbing, delivered prices of celery won’t really reflect the low fob prices. Still, if you consider where celery prices have been in the past, these are good times.

STRAWBERRIES–the Memorial Day business wasn’t much to write home about. Lousy weather in the East didn’t help, so sales weren’t too brisk. We see a sluggish market for berries for a while. The only thing that may effect things is the cooler weather we are having. This may effect supplies and there may be some shortages by the end of this week.