MARKET UPDATE DECEMBER 28, 2023

Good afternoon,

We here at GPS want to say thank you for your partnership through another wonderful and exciting year! The ups, downs, and challenges of this industry can be difficult but servicing the people we get to work with everyday makes all of those challenges worth it. We want to wish you all a Happy New Year and cannot wait to see what 2024 brings!

It's CHILEAN STONE FRUIT season and we are flush with CHERRIES! This is the last few weeks of arishot fruit, where pricing may be slightly higher but quality is top. Boat fruit will begin to arrive in early January and we will see pricing come off once that happens. The fruit will have a little more time on it when it gets into stores but the affordability increase should offset that change. PEACHES, NECTARINES, APRICOTS are available and still flown in so they are a bit pricey. We also expect a surprise early showing of PLUMS possibly next week, so stay tuned.

The Holidays are nearly through and it's time for New Years resolutions. Each January we see a boom in sales of SALADS and LEAFY GREENS. After 6 weeks of Holiday cheer, I know my jeans don't fit as well as they did back in October. And so, it's no coincidence that for most of January the gyms and the salad bars are full, making the timing ripe for leafy green specials! LETTUCE, ROMAINE, and LEAFY GREENS have had a great run of supply for the last few weeks and that looks to continue into the New Year.

California ORANGES have improved over the last several weeks as the NAVEL crop has come on. Availability is strong on larger size fruit like 88ct but there are also decent supplies of 113ct fruit and smaller. FLORIDA citrus is still getting off the ground and all of the overcast days and rainy weather has slowed down the ripening process.

While it rains on and off across most of North America, the drought of ASPARAGUS supplies continues. The wet, low sunlight conditions have slowed down production and left buyers grasping for grass. We will see high pricing and light availability on ASPARAGUS through most of the first month of 2024.

CAULIFLOWER will continue in a supply gap into the weekend thanks to cool and rainy conditions this past week. YUMA forecasts anticipate a slight warming trend over the weekend, so hopefully we see CAULIFLOWER in a better position after the first week of January.

...and a Happy New Year!

Parker Tannehill