It’s that time of year. With tree fruit, melons, and grapes picking up more volume, demand for trucks is also picking up. And with that, freight rates start to climb. For instance, truck rates to the East coast are already hitting $6000 and higher. This is $1500-2000 higher than where we were 2 weeks ago. As an easy calculation, if you get 1000 packages of product on a truck, that means you will pay $1.50-2.00 a box OVER where you were 2 weeks ago. So, no matter what the FOB prices of produce is doing, the “delivered” prices of just about any item will be $1.50-2.00 higher.
Long range weather in the Salinas/Watsonville area shows at, or below normal temperatures for the next 10 days, and the fruit areas in the San Joaquin Valley also show about the same, or slightly cooler weather for this time of year. No rain in sight.
As mentioned above, truck rates are doing their yearly thing, and rates are climbing. That is simple supply and demand. Another factor is the quietly climbing fuel costs. Oil futures have gone up over $30.00/barrel the past month, or so, and gas and diesel prices have also gone up. This will also have an effect on the truck rates. We aren’t sure how high truck rates will go this Summer, but $8000 to the far East coast was reached last year, and could certainly do that again.

LETTUCE–lighter supplies in Salinas have allowed shippers to push the market upward. In fact, prices could be double what they were at this time last week. Demand isn’t necessarily strong, so the only reason prices are higher is due to the lighter supplies. Also, with higher freight rates mentioned above, that pushes delivered prices even higher. $20+ for lettuce on the East coast seems inevitable.

BROCCOLI–no change here, although crowns are a bit stronger in price. Good supplies in Salinas and Santa Maria for bunch 14s and 18s.

CAULIFLOWER–cooler weather slowing down supplies, and markets are stronger. Again, demand is only so-so, which has us skeptical about whether the shippers can maintain their bullish markets. We don’t suggest you buy overly heavy early this week, as we could see the market fall off. On the other hand, cooler weather may hold back supplies.

LEAF ITEMS–stronger market on green leaf, steady on red, boston,  and romaine. Local markets throughout the East coast have started, so we don’t anticipate the markets out here staying up for very long. Quality on ALL leaf is good.

CELERY–weak FOB markets, but with higher freight rates, delivered prices to all areas of the country are higher. Keep in mind that a full load of celery is only about 700 boxes, as opposed to say, strawberries, where there are over 2500 boxes on a load. Spread that out, and paying rates $2000 MORE than 2 weeks ago equate to $3.00/box more for celery than 2 weeks ago. So, even if the fob price stay the same, delivered prices are  considerably higher.

STRAWBERRIES–with  tree fruit, melons, and grapes taking up more and more space on the produce shelves,  there will be less and less space for strawberries, which have been POUNDED for ads the past 3 months. Its time for something new. This means that demand for berries is much weaker than in the past, so we don’t see the market doing much. The only thing that may keep prices steady to firm, would be the forecast for slightly cooler temperatures in the Salinas/Watsonville areas the next 10 days. That will slow the strawberry growth.