Week of July 20, 2009
Vegetables
Beets - Both red and gold beets are tight right now.
Broccoli - Broccoli supplies are strong and pricing is down!
Cauliflower - Cauliflower supplies are improving and the market is down.
Celery - The celery market is steady this week with good supplies.
Chards and Kale - Green chard remains the lowest price of the chards but supplies of the rainbow and red varieties are beginning to improve. Kale pricing is down with some nice offers available.
Leaf Lettuce - The leaf market in California is still tight but improving. Supplies of green leaf and romaine are particularly tight.
Spinach - Spinach availability is very tight.
Fruit
Apples - Fair supplies of New Zealand Braeburn apples continue with the price holding firm. There are limited supplies of Chilean fruit. Look for new crop Braeburns to begin in September. Good supplies available of both New Zealand and South American Fujis. Pricing remains aggressive. Northwest storage is winding down and should be done by the end of July. New crop Fujis are expected in September. Large size Gala apples are very limited - mostly seeing small New Zealand and South American trays and bags. New crop Galas will start the beginning of August from California. Northwest storage on Gold Delicious should carry into August. New crop Early Gold and Gingergold varieties should overlap with the storage fruit as we move into August. The Northwest storage supply of Red Delicious apples are just about finished. There is also limited South American fruit available. New crop Red Delicious begins in September. Limited supplies of Granny Smith apples from New Zealand and South America should wind down towards the end of the month. Storage fruit should also last through July. New crop Granny Smith apples are expected in September. There are plenty of Pink Lady apples from South America available and they are priced to move. Their are fair supplies from New Zealand. New crop Pink Lady apples begin in October.
Avocados - The avocado market continues to be tight and the pricing is inching upwards. Chilean fruit will begin in a bout 6-7 weeks.
Citrus - California Valencias will begin to wind down as we move further into July, but still good supplies available now.
Grapes - Primarily Sugarone, Princess and Superior green grape varieties are available from the Central Valley right now. The quality is excellent and pricing is pretty steady. Expect to see Thompson's emerge within 10 days. Promotional volume is expected on the Thompson's as we move into August. Red Flames are becoming more abundant as the market settles. Expect good volume on the flames now through August. Early Red Crimson grapes should start in early August. Fair supplies of black grapes are available.
Mangoes - Light supplies on the big fruit. Strong supplies available on 12 and 14 count mangoes.
Melons - plenty of melons to go around! Good supplies on all melons.
Pears - The new crop California Bartlett pears are now underway. Large sizes will be limited for the first week with the best value being in small sizes and bags. Expect strong volume in August as the California crop and the Northwest crop overlap. Excellent pricing available on Packham pears as both coasts are looking to clean up inventories as new crop Bartletts emerge. There are very limited supplies of imported Bosc pears available. Quality is not incredibly strong. Look for new crop Bosc pears from the Northwest to begin in September. The last of the imported D'anjou pears are finishing up. New crop D'anjous begin in September, also out of the Northwest. New crop Asian pears are expected to begin towards the end of August.
Stone Fruit - There are plenty of apricots being packed in the northwest. We are seeing excellent quality and pricing. Supplies will begin to wind down as we enter August. We are seeing a smooth transition from California Bing cherries to the Northwest supplies. Overall volume should be strong, now through July. Rainier cherry volume is fair with supplies expected to carry through July. Yellow peaches are in abundant supply - they are peaking right now. Northwest peaches are expected to begin next week. Colorado peaches are now beginning and there are still light supplies from South Carolina. White peaches are in fair supply. Yellow nectarine supplies are fair to good. Strong demand is keeping the pricing pretty firm. Supplies of white nectarines are also fair. Red and black plums are in excellent supply. Look for supplies to remain strong through July. Dapple Dandy pluots have started packing. This is the beginning of peak season for pluots.
*All information and forecasts in this report are based on current market conditions. While accurately sourced and reported, the information is subject ot change due to natural fluctuations in the market conditions.