MARKET UPDATE NOVEMBER 3, 2022
Good afternoon,
November is here and with it, we trudge through this difficult transition cycle that has given us a year that should hold up as one of the most challenging for years to come. On the east coast, things are calmer with mostly seasonal difficulties while new crops pop up further and further south as we grow closer to winter.
GOLD KIWIS are in great supply! We are seeing a drop off in STONE FRUIT availability, so these sweet golden kiwi work as a great replacement on the shelf or sell sheet. We have good volume of 8/1lb clamshells, and this fruit is one of the sweetest fruits we offer. We expect to have good supply of the ZESPRI label GOLD KIWI into late January, and then we will then see a few month gap until early May. Check out our WEEKLY FRESH AD for a sweet deal on GOLD KIWI CLAMSHELLS for next week!
TOMATO crops continue to deal with light supplies out of Florida due to Hurricane Ian. We expect these challenges to continue well into the month of November. South Florida tomato crops should start near the end of the year, so we may be celebrating the New Year and better tomato supplies when the New Year.s ball drops.
CANTALOUPES and HONEYDEWS have made a safe transition to Arizona. Supplies are starting off strong but due to the prorates and cuts of California veg, we are seeing strong melon demand as these trucks use MELONS to fill as the head east. Markets will look to stay relatively flat or slightly higher over the next few weeks and take a very beneficial turn for us once import fruit arrives to our South Florida ports in late November / early December.
LETTUCE, ROMAINE, and LEAF markets continue to surge this week. While prices are even higher than last week, there is a breath of good news that indicates a welcome change ahead. YUMA PRODUCTION HAS STARTED ICEBERG and light volumes of ROMAINE and LEAFY GREENS. While it will take time for supplies to meet demand and lower prices, we should see improved quality right away. Most growers have varied transition schedules, for example, DOLE won.t have any romaine products in YUMA until late November, while several other growers are already fully transitioned to YUMA. Our guess is that we won.t see significant relief until mid to late November, once all the major growers are harvesting down south.
BROCCOLI and CAULIFLOWER are starting to tighten up again. Remember that their growth cycles are a few weeks behind lettuce and romaine as they will last an extra month or so in the same growing area. Conditions this year have been difficult to say the least, so we may see a rocky end to Salinas BROCCOLI and CAULIFLOWER supplies.
More as it happens,
Parker Tannehill