10/17/11

It’s getting that time of year when we move from Salinas to Huron for various vegetable items, in particular head lettuce. So, while there are some shippers that will continue to have lettuce in Salinas well into November, many of the bigger shippers are now moving their operation to Huron and Bakersfield areas. This will cause a bit more stress for truck pickup and higher freight rates for mixer loads out of California to midwest and east coast destinations.

Long rang weather shows mild temperatures with highs in the mid 70s, lows in the 50s, and no rain in sight.

Trucks are readily available, as the tree fruit and melon deals wind down. Rates are lower and should continue their flexibility until the first of November.

LETTUCE–transition time happens twice a year, and is usually no fun. Finishing up the Salinas lettuce deal and moving to Huron presents quality issues. The “old” lettuce in Salinas in mostly tired, with good size and weight, but doesn’t have the “legs” in the stores. The early Huron quality has its share of issues, with internal problems, light weight, and not much head formation. Take your pick. The market is holding at lower levels because there isn’t any gap in supplies, even with the transitioning. However, we could see a stronger market by this time next week.

BROCCOLI–good, strong demand for bunch and crowns, especially crowns. There ARE some deals out there for off labels, so shopping around could be advantageous. Quality out west is mostly excellent, although there are some reports of pin rot due to last week’s rain, followed by warm temperatures.

CAULIFLOWER–definitely a stronger market here. Heavy supplies have been going out the past few weeks, and, as noted in last week’s bulletin, the rain accelerated growth and production, so we are now seeing a gap in supplies, causing this market spike. While we encourage heavier buying early this week, this could be short lived, so don’t order too heavily this weekend.

LEAF ITEMS–steady on green, stronger on red, and lower on romaine. This is an item that shopping around would be the way to go. Some shippers have good supplies of green, and no red. Others have red, light supplies of green, and no romaine. You get the picture.

CELERY–this market continues flat for the next few weeks, until Thanksgiving business kicks in. DOLE continues to lead the way, and is demanding $1-3.00/box MORE than the general market. The main push continues to be on the larger size 24s and 30s. 36s and smaller are higher in price, due to strong demand for hearts.

STRAWBERRIES–even though our weather has straightened out, most shippers have either pulled the pin for the season, or don’t want to go too far east with what little supplies they DO have. Driscoll, however, is just STARTING their Oxnard deal, as well as beginning their Mexican deals, which cross in either McAllen, Texas, or San Diego. They have pushed their prices about $2.00/box every week for the past 3 weeks, and are looking for higher this week. They are trying to kill business. Business that they don’t really need, so by raising their prices, they hope to accomplish that. Quality is still just fair in Salinas/Watsonville(the “older” districts), so the better areas are now Santa Maria and Oxnard. Still, don’t hold ANY fruit. Move as quickly as you can.

Ed Brem

ed@producewest.com