MARKET UPDATE WEEK # 42 - 2020

Good Afternoon,

TOMATO markets remain strong this week. Due to rain on the east coast and heat on the west coast, we have seen TOMATO prices on the rise. Supplies up the east coast are winding down as we approach the Florida season, but the area is still recovering from hurricane damage. We are expecting a tough go for tomatoes over the next 4 weeks.

PAPAYA MARADOLS are nearly non-existent. Crews were pulled out of fields due to the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving fruit to go unharvested. Once the crews were cleared to return, a significant amount of supply was overripe and deemed unusable. The loss of supply has thrown us into an early end of the season as we await new crop.

STRAWBERRY production is below 50% of the seasonal average in California. Warmer weather over the weekend and into next week will help pick supplies up, but light red fruit with white shoulders will be hard to come by. Quality is being reported as below average so please keep that in mind when ordering STRAWBERRIES.

We are seeing some outlier commodities struck by the heat trouble that do not always make it into our market update. CILANTRO, PARSLEY, GREEN ONIONS, KALE, and other accompaniments are having trouble due to late summer growing conditions.

LETTUCE markets took a slight dip mid-week due to a lack of demand. As we almost always see on the high side of the market, buyers backed off and looked for substitutes, causing GREEN LEAF prices to bump and ICEBERG prices to dip. We are expecting severe heat in the Salinas Valley today and tomorrow, so we do not anticipate this dip in the market to last long.

BROCCOLI supplies have slightly improved. It remains a tale of the haves and have-nots, but supply is generally improving.

GRAPES are one of the few items holding on to seasonally average market prices. We are seeing some activity on BLACK SEEDLESS FOB's but other than that, markets are steady.

MELON prices continue to increase as we enter the month of October. This trend will continue until imports become available.

CLEMENTINE supplies out of Chile have been leaning towards smaller sizes, but quality and flavor have been good. We should see some larger sized fruit over the next few weeks as the season progresses.

More as it happens,
Parker Tannehill