MARKET UPDATE JULY 27, 2023

Good afternoon,

ASPARAGUS supplies have fallen victim to the heat, as MEXICO and PERU fail to produce any extra large sized grass. Higher temperatures are forcing growers to finish fields early in both countries. Look for higher prices to stick for another week or so as crops transition to new, hopefully cooler, growing areas.

California veg has started to show signs of life this week. ICEBERG supplies got tight over the weekend and are trying to pull ROMAINE and other leafy greens with it. The rise in pricing is demand driven so hopefully these market changes will be brief.

CANTALOUPE and HONEYDEW production is moving out west to California! Sizing is larger to start off the season, so we may need to sub into 12ct CANTALOUPES and 6ct HONEYDEWS. Fortunately, production is off to a hot start and we expect to see market pricing lower with the increased availability out of California.

GRAPES out of Mexico have seen better days, so we are making the switch for better quality out of California. Unlike melons, pricing is higher out of California on GRAPES but we are still early in the deal so there is hope for that to change. Be wary of any cheap grape deals over the next few weeks as plenty of buyers and sellers looking for the cheapest deal are turning to late season Mexican product and asking for trouble.

BOSC PEARS are non-existent. We are gapping on BOSC PEARS completely until California fruit is available in a few weeks. D’ANJOU PEARS are on the same trajectory and we will have to look to California BARTLETT PEARS for relief in the weeks ahead.

Next week will be our last week on CHERRIES. There may be opportunities in the weeks that follow but condition and quality will start to become a bigger factor as we move into August.

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill