MARKET UPDATE DEC 14-18, 2020

Good Afternoon,

Cold weather is in the air and it is starting to feel like the Holiday Season! The recent cool down has slowed down production on some items, but helped quality improve on others.

LETTUCE and ROMAINE have seen drastic improvements in quality and pricing this week. Demand has slowed, but much of the recent improvements have been due to the cooler weather. Supplies are strong on LETTUCE, ROMAINE, ROMAINE HEARTS, and all leaf items out of YUMA. We should see this trend continue if the weather patterns remain favorable.

CAULIFLOWER and BROCCOLI are on the other side of the cool weather coin. Cooler evenings have slowed growth on both commodities, shortening supplies and causing some market activity. We are in just the first few days of this market increase, so we should see prices continue to climb into the weekend. Markets will start to come back down once we see some warmer weather.

CELERY supplies are starting to show signs of weakness. Southern California supplies are finishing up and Yuma has yet to start producing. Now is the time to start working ahead on CELERY before supplies get tight and prices continue to climb!

Offshore STONE FRUIT is beginning to arrive here in the states. We are still a few weeks away from significant volume on most varieties, but we will have some spot deals that pop up week to week. Please call and ask about stone fruit for the most up to date information.

STRAWBERRIES have gotten off to a great start here in Florida. The cold weather is helping the berries stay firm and crisp, and prices are starting to come off. Take advantage of the crunchy, cool weather STRAWBERRIES coming in this week!

TOMATO supplies in FL are coming in a bit underripe due to the cooler conditions. The market continues to marginally improve but we will not see any significant change until things warm up.

Continuing the cool trend, FLORIDA CITRUS is beginning to show signs of improvement. Cold nights help develop flavor and naturally ripen the fruit. We should be into some better Florida Citrus in the coming weeks.

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill