MARKET UPDATE APRIL 2, 2023

Good afternoon,

As the anticipation begins to peak among produce professionals, we are finally finishing up in Arizona. Many growers have already closed up shop in Arizona on CAULIFLOWER and BROCCOLI with Salinas product starting up later this week. LETTUCE and ROMAINE supplies, although widely available at the moment, will begin to tighten next week and that trend will continue through the beginning of April. We have now entered the transition phase as we will see new crops starting up in Northern California and old crops wrap up in Yuma throughout the month. The throughline of this story will be the inconsistencies of availability and market activity we will see along the way.

STRAWBERRIES have also made the switch out west and now that everyone else is moving their purchasing to California, supplies have tightened up. Next week, look for higher prices on STRAWBERRIES as well as prorates to all orders.

GRAPE markets are beginning to split as older Peruvian crops are going for less money than the more recent crop of Chilean fruit. Right now, the gap is minimal, but we will most likely see a strong drop in price on the lower quality GRAPES over the next few weeks as shippers look to get rid of tired fruit. We expect to be a few dollars more expensive than the cheaper vendors in the weeks ahead, but it will pay off double when the quality is levels above the competition.

CALABAZA pricing continues to climb as availability declines here in South Florida. Container delays as well as a lack of production due to heavy rains in Central America has left importers limited. The price makers have moved pricing higher in an effort to slow down demand and give their inventories a chance to catch up.

LIME prices are on the way back up again as crops gap in Mexico. There is some relief from Colombian supplies but not enough to sway the market. The gap in supply paired with the lack of labor for the holy week will most likely prop up LIME prices at higher levels for some time.

Sometimes, it feels like the bad news makes the headlines, so to load up on good news; CANTALOUPES, HONEYDEWS, PINEAPPLES, SMALL GALA APPLES,PLUMS, are all in great supply!

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill