MARKET
REPORT 5/22/12
Berries: Baja is wrapping up their strawberry
season as the weather is getting too warm for their liking. Oxnard is also
sending most of their remaining berries to cannery as they are too ripe to
ship. Watsonville berries have started out very large with excellent flavor.
Market is a little bit stronger as the growing areas have been cut by 2/3rd’s.
Blackberries and blueberries are starting to thrive with the heat. Markets
should be getting cheaper over the next few weeks.
Melons: California and Arizona are coming into
some good volume on cantaloupes. Prices are getting better daily. We are seeing
high brix melons with full slip’s and very heavy netting. Honeydew volume is
still primarily coming out of Mexico but Arizona is not far behind. Prices and
quality are improving as well. Watermelon are getting closer but volume is
still moderate out of Mainland Mexico. Bakersfield will hopefully be ready
soon.
Vegetables & tomatoes: Nogales is all but
shut down for the season except for a few tomatoes and some squash. Baja new
crop round and roma tomatoes have started out fairly strong with good pricing
and quality. Cherry and grape tomatoes are also new crop out of Baja with
slightly higher prices but with nothing but sun on the forecast, they should
back off quickly. Red & yellow bells are also coming out of Baja with good
volume. Prices have come off considerably. Coachella is producing green bells,
eggplant, and corn. Asparagus has begun out of California but remains very short.
Washington is helping to supply demand but until Central Mexico gets started
sometime next week, demand will continue to exceed supply.
Grapes & stonefruit: New crop flames and
perlette’s are off to a slow start. Mexico has had issues with their crop and
Coachella is still struggling to keep up with market demand. Prices are very
high. California stonefruit has begun but is heavy to the small side as usual
with the new crop. Prices are still fairly high but should come off pretty
quick with very warm days ahead of us.
Citrus: Valencia oranges are in full swing now
with good quality. Prices should ease up as we get into summer. Lemons remain
on the short side. Quality has been hit and miss with choice grade looking less
than what we are used to. Lime volume is pretty good with better pricing on
smaller sizes.
Onions: New crop reds out of Mexico and
Imperial Valley remain fairly short with higher pricing. We have stuck with the
old crop on yellow onions as to try and avoid the Imperial Valley onions which
always show very little skin and are very soft. They are starting to show
better cure but are still not ready. This is a very short crop just to bridge
us until Bakersfield and Stockton get started.
