THE SOURCE.
Stay informed on how the weather and other conditions across the country and the globe affect the quality, availability, and price of you fresh fruits and vegetables.
AVOCADOS:
Shipments from Mexico this week and next are expected to be off as much as 20% due to labor taking off for Christmas. Mexico has raised their field price again and we're seeing some upward pressure on the market. Look for this to continue into next week. Harvest may not start to come back to normal until the first week of January.
BROCCOLI:
The broccoli market was trying to firm up and follow cauliflower, but there are too many growing
regions with supplies and little demand. Quality is really nice with excellent crown size, tight beads, and good weights.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS:
The Brussels sprout market tried to establish itself on a higher level expecting increased demand for the holiday pull. Well unfortunately that didn't happen as supplies continue to remain abundant from California; quality is excellent.
ALERT! CAULIFLOWER:
The market is trending lower due to a lack of demand. Supplies remain limited. This trend will last into next week. Quality has been suspect with off colors of cream to yellow; there has also been some black bruising reported.
KALE:
Kale supplies have remained plentiful over the course of several weeks. The transition from Salinas to Yuma was a smooth one. The super food has created a buzz nationally and suppliers have done a fantastic job keeping up with demand, keeping the market steady. Quality is excellent.
ICEBERG LETTUCE:
The market has weakened. The "Arctic Blast" coupled with a lack of demand attributed to the Christmas shopping season has impacted all shippers. The weather in the desert has been nearly ideal recently so supplies have been abundant. Quality is still somewhat of an issue as the last vestiges of the seeder, tip and fringe burn clean up. We expect to see this over supply situation continue until about the middle to end of January. Most shippers are predicting a supply gap at that time as a result of the current flush of product.
LEAF LETTUCE: Like iceberg, the markets have weakened due to a lack of demand and an abundance of supply. Quality is still suffering from some issues (burn, twist, seeder) but is generally better than it has been the last few weeks. The long term view of most shippers is for the market to strengthen with lighter supplies forecast for the middle to end of January.
ALERT! SCALLIONS:
Labor to harvest in Mexico will be limited causing a serious gap in the supply chain. Quality has been excellent.
ORANGES:
Navel oranges are in good supply and flavor. Cara Cara (aka pink navels) and Blood Oranges have started!
PINEAPPLES: Supplies are good and so is holiday demand and shippers. Supplies from the tropics will drop off for the first few weeks of January due to the lack of labor to harvest during the holidays.
ALERT! STRAWBERRIES:
Oxnard is once again forecasted to receive significant rain. Southern California's agriculture and other industries need the water. However, following the rain that fell last week, we have been short product all week as growers fight water damage on the new crop and have discarded much of their fruit that had color. This crop has already been slow to start due to cold temperatures, short days and a few significant weather events early in the crop. We're still seeing soft wet bruising, decay, soft shoulders and tips, etc.
Now for the good news! Florida has come on steadily and continuing to increase production. Weather has been near prefect all season so far and that does not look to change in the near future. Strawberries are full red, generally firm to the touch and sizing in the low-mid twenties. Some elongated or misshapen fruit but this is typical with the Florida strawberry varieties.
STONE FRUITS:
Chilean stone availability is improving. Next week we will see better supplies and more variety in sizes in the peach and nectarine categories. Starting January, we anticipate much better supplies of all fruit and we will see prices adjust quickly.
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