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Asparagus supplies are extremely tight coming out of Peru and Mexico. Mexican production has slowed way down due to cooler weather and Peruvian production has been fairly low all season because of the effects of El Nino and decreasing even further now due to seasonality. We expect the market to be volatile for the next few weeks, especially with the added pressure of the holiday demand. All sizes, especially XLs and jumbos will be extremely limited through early January.
The unseasonably cool weather in South Florida and Mexico has also impacted the quality and supply on mixed vegetables including all varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, beans, corn, squash, hot peppers, cucumbers and eggplant. Red and yellow bells are extremely short due to a USDA hold on supply coming from Canada caused by an infection. Mexico production has yet to start on yellow bells and reds are in very limited supply. Prices are rising quickly due to this tight market. Unfortunately, the tomato market continues to be very tight as growers are gapping during this transition period. Quality is average at best and prices continue to rise.
Cauliflower supplies have started to tighten up due to end of production in Salinas and the unseasonably warm weather in Yuma that brought on product faster than expected.
The onion market has escalated rapidly due to substantial shrinkage concerns compounded by a shortage in supply out of other producing regions such as Canada, Michigan, and New York has put immense pressure on the market. The market is expected to remain volatile with elevated prices through late spring or even early summer.
In better news, Cantaloupes are in full swing with offshore supply out of Guatemala. Supply is prevalent and the brix is great for this time of year. Watermelon, however, are gapping with less than ideal quality for the time being.
Supply is limited on both strawberries and raspberries as we get later in the season and shelf life is reduced. Blackberries have seen improving quality due to the cooler temperatures and blueberries are showing fairly good quality and increasing supply.
As we saw earlier in the holiday season, shell egg prices have gone up again due to increasing holiday demand and the impact of bird flu.
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