The much anticipated Thanksgiving  business starts this week and goes through next week.  Overall, for the past several weeks,  the markets for lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, romaine, leaf, strawberries, and assorted mixed items have been crazy, to say the least. These next 2 weeks will have natural strong demand for most of those items mentioned, so we see no reason why the prices won’t remain active. Still, retail prices have been pushed up to reflect the higher markets, so we could see some of these markets start to come down. In particular, some of the leaf items, and broccoli.
No measurable rain is forecasted for the next 7 days in Salinas, or the growing regions in San Joaquin Valley, but a chance for rain by the end of next week. We DO see cooler days and even some below freezing at night in some regions, which is typical for this time of year.
Trucks will certainly tighten up during this week and next, and truckers will look for higher rates. Book your trucks early.

LETTUCE–higher retail prices are posted on the shelves in the supermarkets, so demand should start to die off, but supplies continue tight, so we may not see prices come down this week. When they DO start to drop, it will be fast and furious, so we don’t recommend booking too heavily. Most of the supplies are still coming out of Huron and Salinas, while the desert looks to get going soon, in hopes of catching the high markets.

BROCCOLI–lots of ads set up for Thanksgiving, so demand should be strong for the next 2 weeks. Prices are already high, but with the lids out there, we don’t anticipate the market going too much higher than that. Supplies are mostly in Salinas and Santa Maria areas, along with some supplies coming out of the San Joaquin Valley.

CAULIFLOWER–cooler temperatures and a few ads should keep this market strong for the next 2 weeks. However, we are seeing a pretty wide range in prices today, with as much as a $6-8.00 SPREAD in the market, depending upon the shipper and area. Good item to shop around for.

LEAF ITEMS–romaine still off the graph, with prices hitting $40.00 in the East. We feel prices should start coming down, but there is heavy pressure for bag salad with romaine in it, which is keeping the price for carton romaine very active. This is another item that when the price starts coming down, you DON’T want to be in the way. Green and red are still active, but, again, there is a pretty wide spread between the mostly market and the preferred labels.

CELERY–these next 2 weeks are THE premier shipping time for celery for the year. EVERYONE has celery on ad, and retails will be comparable across the country. So, we see strong demand this week, and early next week, then orders getting canceled by the end of next week, as receivers start backing up with supplies.

STRAWBERRIES–shorter days and cooler nights are slowing up supplies. But, demand has REALLY come down for berries, so the market has leveled out. Driscoll continues to pro rate, but not as heavily has they have been the past few weeks. This is an indication that the market has finally killed overall demand. With no rain in sight, the berry quality should improve, with harder fruit and better shelf life. There are some white shoulders out there.