Market Update May 05, 2023

Good afternoon,

GRAPE supplies are finishing up out of South America and unfortunately, there is no new crop fruit available! We have been referring to this impending supply gap for a few weeks now and undoubtedly we are all feeling the effects when it comes to GRAPE pricing. MEXICAN GRAPES are next up but they will not be available until the end of May. There is still Chilean fruit available, which is a good sign, but we are going to see drastically tight markets and some additional price increases over the next month or so.

Steady demand and supply of LETTUCE and ROMAINE are keeping leaf markets in check this week. Larger 24ct LETTUCE is being priced out at a premium while smaller packs, like cello 30ct, are where the deals can be found. Conditions look mild after some late week showers this week so our hope is that this market softens up as we move later into May.

CAULIFLOWER was resistant to this transition but we are finally seeing better availability. Some shippers are still quoting over $50 per box, but that is only because they don't have anything available. There are spot deals here and there on CAULIFLOWER and similar to lettuce, those deals are on smaller sizes, like 16ct. Bear with us if we only have 16ct CAULIFLOWER for your order next week and trust that the savings are worth the switch!

PEARS are beginning to wind down out of Washington, that includes: D'ANJOU, BOSC, and RED PEARS. Argentinian and Chilean BOSC and RED PEARS will be the first imports that we will have to switch over to. Once the import season is finished, we will move over to California PEARS sometime in July.

STONE FRUIT season has ended and much like grape availability, we are in a supply gap between South American and California supplies. We expect to see California PEACHES, NECTARINES, APRICOTS, and CHERRIES start up in a few weeks!

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill