MARKET UPDATE MAY 18, 2023

Good afternoon,

The GRAPE supply gap continues into next week with several delays on fruit coming out of Mexico. We are expecting to see prices remain elevated for at least another 3-4 weeks, but the real problem is the availability of fruit! We will see some fruit cross from Mexico next week but supplies will remain scarce going forward.

We will have to wait another week for CHERRIES and CALIFORNIA STONE FRUIT. There are some rumblings of fruit available but shippers have been pushing off trucks by days at a time. The fruit from the first few weeks of harvest is typically very tart and we all know, very expensive. It may be in our best interest to wait another week for the fruit and markets to soften up a bit!

PINEAPPLE supplies remain in great shape! Quality and pricing are in a great spot where we have plenty of fruit to offer at favorable pricing!

LETTUCE and LEAF out of California remain in good supply this week. The price gap between 24ct and 30ct ICEBERG is tightening as growers catch up and are able to harvest larger heads of lettuce. Canada lettuce is still another month or so away so we will most likely be dealing with exclusively California leaf through most of June.

CELERY supplies are TIGHT! With Florida and Arizona supplies mostly finished and SALINAS CELERY not expected to be available until late June, we are experiencing a significant supply shortage. As you all know by now, scarcity will always lead to higher pricing in fresh produce. OXNARD, CA should see a production increase around the first week of June but we may see these market difficulties linger until Salinas product plays a significant role sometime in July.

Vegetables on the east coast are beginning to transition up north out of Florida. Some commodities are already being harvested in Georgia, but there has been some weather activity that damaged crops like CABBAGE, SQUASH, PEPPER, and dry veg. We will see freight costs increase as availability moves north but as long as Mother Nature is kind to us!

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill