MARKET UPDATE MARCH 02, 2023

Good afternoon,

The ASPARAGUS market is starting to come down as volume of STANDARD and LARGE asparagus increases out of Mexico. Extra large and jumbo sizes are still tight, but we should see some relief on the larger sizes in the weeks ahead.

Chilean PEACHES, NECTARINES, and PLUMS are in great supply and quality! We continue to have volume fill and retail pouch bags brought in fresh weekly.

Florida STRAWBERRIES continue their strong run next week. The early part of the season was difficult, but we are now reaping the benefits of that slow start with aggressive pricing and decent shelf life. As the weather warms through the month of march, we will see this season come to an end, not due to a lack of supply, but due to temperatures being too hot to harvest EXPORT fruit in Florida. At that point we will head back out west, hopefully with a smooth transition and no gap in supply.

CAULIFLOWER supplies remain tight out west, but some good fortune has held BROCCOLI markets in check. The cold weather continues to keep CAULIFLOWER avilability short. BROCCOLI supplies are starting to decline slightly, but there is enough product to go around. A significant cold snap would send BROCCOLI prices higher but for now, markets remain steady.

LIME prices are on the rise again this week as new crop supplies are nowhere to be found. Mexican supplies look like they are going to continue to fall behind schedule as other imports look to fill the gaps over the next month.

POMEGRANATES are wrapped up in South America as well as Israel, so we will be facing a supply gap for another few weeks. We should see some product out of Chile soon.

As 40 MPH gusts of wind are being reported out of Arizona it's surprising that so many commodities are holding onto affordable pricing and strong quality. LETTUCE and ROMAINE remain in good supply with pricing right around their price floors. We have heard from several shippers that markets should be moving slightly higher in the weeks ahead but we have yet to see any evidence of that on LETTUCE or ROMAINE. We have seen that on items like PARSLEY, CILANTRO, SPINACH, and ARUGULA but only time will tell on the rest of the salad bowl!

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill