MARKET UPDATE 08.29.24

Good afternoon,

BELL PEPPER availability is beginning to improve with the addition of Canadian supplies as well as some improved supply coming out of California. Pricing has been cheaper out of Mexico but with quality hit or miss with the heat, RED, YELLOW, and ORANGE BELLS may be better North of the border.

Quality of CARROTS is much improved now that the Canadian season has begun. With lower seasonal temperatures in the growing season, we are seeing much better quality than we saw out of Mexico and California and no internal decay at all. The snacking and shredded carrots come out of California, and are therefore still limited in supply due to the heatwave and may see the occasional quality set back.

Back to school demand is eating into ORANGE supplies. The drop off in quality of the VALENCIA crop has been steep and the increase in demand this month has not helped the situation. We won't see NAVELS until mid-to-late October, so the outlook is less than positive on ORANGES for the next 6-8 weeks. SOUTH AFRICAN fruit has been of better quality but the market has now caught on and pricing is up. We will have to get creative for the next several weeks with easy peel fruit and import oranges while the domestic situation worsens.

RUSSET POTATO storage crops are starting to finish up in Idaho. As we transition to NEW CROP in Washington, FOB's are slightly higher on the new crop Norkotahs, but what is considerably more costly is the freight rate!

SEEDLESS CUCUMBERS and other greenhouse veggies are seeing tight markets this week. As we progress later into the season, the larger product becomes more scarce. We expect to see tighter markets on items like seedless cukes, snack pack and retail variety tomatoes for the next few weeks.

Next week starts the month of September and with it we expect to see stone fruit like PEACHES and NECTARINES begin their decline in availability. As the season has been incredibly hot, these crops are likely to finish early and will more than likely not hold up very well towards the end of the deal.

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill