MARKET UPDATE NOVEMBER 10, 2023

Good afternoon,

STRAWBERRY supplies are beginning to make their way into the states by way of Mexico, while Southern California supplies are experiencing a downtrend in availability due to heat and wind factors. FLORIDA berries are expected to start around the last week of November.

BLUEBERRIES continue to increase in availability out of Peru. After several weeks of supply shortages, the excitement of new blues has demand primed to peak as soon as pricing comes off. CHILEAN blueberries are starting in a light way, opening doors for sales into markets like Trinidad.

BROCCOLI numbers are light in all major growing areas. The late season fall crop in Salinas is finishing up over the next few weeks as production in Yuma gets started. We have received reports to expect LIGHT COLOR BROCCOLI out of Yuma for the first few weeks as temperatures remain higher. We are going to stick with BROCCOLI with better color out of Salinas and other California regions as long as quality will allow us.

California GRAPES gave us a scare after Tropical Storm Hillary hit fields earlier this season. Production took a 30% plus hit as we looked on to dire straits and the possibility of a huge supply gap looming. Well, sometimes market adjustments work! Growers and shippers pushed up pricing in an effort to slow demand and stretch out depleted supplies until South American GRAPES became available. Although pricing looks to remain high for another few weeks, we will be able to bridge the gap to new crops with availability on all varieties!

CANTALOUPE and HONEYDEW import fruit is starting to become available! Larger fruit, like 12s and 6.s, is available out of Guatemala while we are still making the trip to the desert for the smaller counts like 8.s and 15.s. We should see flavor, pricing, and availability of offshore fruit improve over the next several weeks.

LETTUCE markets are on the transition roller coaster as we speak, and it doesn't look like they will be allowed off this week! ICEBERG is available in Salinas, Huron, and Yuma, but all growing areas come with a caveat and some serious differences in quality and price.

ROMAINE and LEAFY GREENS are in better supply but still spread out across the map, including FLORIDA! For those of you looking for a discounted box of leafy greens, we will be into some Florida supplies as early as next week!

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill