Good afternoon,
RED and GREEN SEEDLESS GRAPES are finally available out of Mexico and California. The wait has felt a few weeks too long as we started to see a weakening in Chilean red and green seedless in early May. PRICING will be higher on the new crop fruit due to better quality and higher transportation costs. BLACK SEEDLESS and RED GLOBES will not start domestically for another few weeks, so storage Chilean grapes will be the best available for now.
CELERY supplies on the west coast are hurting. Oxnard and Santa Maria growing areas are our only hope for the next few weeks, as we do not expect to see CELERY out of northern California until late June. Markets will be tight for at least another four weeks. Unfortunately, we have seen pricey CELERY stick around until Canada and Michigan CELERY is ready for harvest in August. Let.s hope that northern California comes on strong this July!
LIME prices continue to fall! After months of limited availability, the flood gates have finally opened. Look for better quality, availability, and pricing on LIMES.
CARROTS out of Canada are finished for the season. There is going to be some added pressure on Mexico to keep up with demand, but it looks like markets are stable. Things could change in the coming weeks but for now, it looks like a healthy CARROT transition.
LETTUCE and LEAFY greens are steady on the west coast. We have had some warmer weather the past few weeks, pushing supplies forward but resulting in some quality concerns like bruising, tip burn, and condensation in closed retail packages. We will always see HEAT have an impact on product in the summer, but for now, quality and pricing of leafy greens are both in a good spot. Let.s hope the Miami Heat can have an impact on game 6 as well.
CANTALOUPE and HONEYDEW markets are going to jump up in price the week after next. Believe it or not, the higher pricing is going to be a good thing, as it means fresh crop MELONS out of Mexico and California. The imported Central American fruit is tired and on its last leg, so one more week fair to average quality, and on to better fruit after that.
CHERRIES, WATERMELON, and STONE FRUIT are great SUMMER SPECIALS to take advantage of. Let your customers know to grab up some sweet summer fruits while they are in season!
More as it happens,
Parker Tannehill