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AUAI

The Source

March 11, 2013 © 2013 PRO*ACT, LLC

T H I N G S Y O U

S H O U L D

K N O W :

COMMODITY ALERT:

Very limited supplies continue for the next

2 weeks on all melons

Small Granny-Smith apples are extremely

short

Avocado supplies from Mexico have

dropped greatly and market making a big

jump up

Weather: Tim Lynch

A large high pressure ridge out west in the Southwestern growing regions will keep the entire region unseasonably warm (70s to low 90s) through the week. Coastal California regions will see temperatures in the mid 70s with the desert regions climbing to possible record high temperatures (90s) late this week.

Freight: Mike McIntire

Trucks in California continue to be steady but will start to

tighten up when the Easter pull starts toward the end of

the week. Trucks in the Northwest are steady. Crude oil

remained steady and is currently 91.96 per barrel. The

national average on diesel fuel remained steady last

week at 4.130 per gallon and should trend steady when it

comes out later today.

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Commodity Updates

APPLES/PEARS John Tole New York is still packing Gold Delicious, Red delicious, Red Rome’s, McIntosh, and Empires. The availability is still fair and all varieties are heavier large fruit except the Mac’s which have ranged in size. The larger New York shippers now expect to pack for the entire month of March and into April. Washington Reds are steady and are peaking on extra-fancy 88/100’s. The lower grades and smaller sizes remain short but there is the occasional deal out there. Some shippers are still packing hail-grade reds. Golden Delicious is also steady and heavy to extra-fancy 88/100’s. Lower grade Golden availability remains fair on 88’s and larger but light on 100’s and smaller. Granny-Smiths are higher and still peaking on 64-80’s and the higher grades. Small and the lower grade Granny’s are still in a demand exceeds situation. Galas are still peaking on 80-100’s and the Washington extra-fancy grade. The Gala market is steady and the demand remains very strong! Washington Fuji’s are heavy to 64/72/80’s and are producing more of the Washington extra-fancy grade. Fuji volume is higher so continue to look for deals with this variety. Pink-Lady’s, Cameo’s, Jonagolds, Braeburns, Rome’s, Jazz, and the other varietals are still available. Washington D’Anjou's are still peaking on the larger sizes and the US#1 grade. Washington Bartlett’s are still producing mostly us#1 110’s but supplies are light. Bosc and red pears are still available. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is coming off. California has begun in a light way with production. The pricing is stronger compared to Mexican product. Mexico supplies are good. Jumbo and extra large sizing will be available. Peruvian grass is available in LA, as well. If loading is an option in Miami, Peruvian grass is available. Supplies are expected to be good throughout the week for Mexican product. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexico has reached a point in their season where they have moved the heavy volume that they have had this year and are now down to normal volumes for the balance of their season. This means about 20 percent less than they have been crossing. California growers are still waiting to gain size to their fruit and

Commodity Quality Market

Apples Excellent Steady

Asparagus Good Lower

Avocado (Mexican) Excellent Higher

Avocado (California)

Bell Peppers (Western)

Good Steady

Bell Pepper (Eastern) Good Steady

Berries: Strawberries Fair Higher

Berries: Raspberries Good Steady

Berries: Blackberries Fair Higher

Berries: Blueberries Good Steady

Broccoli Good Lower

Carrots Good Steady

Cauliflower Fair Steady

Celery Good Higher

Citrus: Lemons Good Steady

Citrus: Oranges Good Steady

Cucumbers (Western) Good Steady

Cucumbers (Eastern) Good Steady

Eggplant Good Steady

Grapes, Green Good Lower

Grapes, Red Good Steady

Green Onions Fair Steady

Lettuce: Leaf Fair Higher

Lettuce: Iceberg Fair Higher

Melons: Cantaloupe Good Higher

Melons: Honeydew Good Higher

Onions Good Steady

Pears Good Steady

Potatoes Excellent Steady

Squash (Western) Good Steady

Squash (Eastern) Good Steady

Stone Fruit Good Steady

Tomatoes (Western) Good Steady

Tomatoes (Eastern) Fair Steady

Watermelon Good Steady

Commodities at a glance…

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Commodity Updates continued

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only harvesting limited amounts (about 3 percent of shipments). They will continue to increase volume as we move through the month, but don’t expect to see normal volumes from California until April. The market is currently rising daily, and should start to stabilize next week. BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Mike Cantu Green bell market is unsettled; indications market is moving upward on large fruit. Adequate supplies on choice and smaller fruit. Open field colored Red bell market are on an upward trend in market as some are transitioning or experiencing a small gap. Supplies are light as some new acreage is scheduled to come online but weather has hampered their start. Gold bells are on an upward movement in FOB’s as some are transitioning and gapping. Extreme demand exceeds current supplies. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird The pepper market has nudged up a bit in recent days as a reaction to Florida’s freezing temperatures. This market should stabilize this week. BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: Supplies out of California are limited the front part of this week due cold and wet weather the growing areas received the tail end of last week. Market is firm. Fruit size is still large. The main issue we are seeing is with the fruit being large is bruising showing up in the packs. You will see some white shoulders and green tips showing up in the packs this week due to the weather last week. Mexico supplies are winding down quickly due to warm weather and will finish up with most shippers this week. Florida growers are dealing with a wide range of quality with an unsettled market. The forecast is calling for rain Tuesday which could bring on harvest delays. It is getting close for those of you loading in Florida to switch back to loading in California. Raspberries: We have past the low in production with most growers. Supplies are slowly improving as each week moves on. Good demand is keeping the market firm. Quality is being reported as good with a few fair lots showing up.

Blackberries: Supplies are starting to get limited due to warm weather in Mexico over the last Month. They also had some high winds and cold weather move through the growing areas a week ago which slowed production. This has the market firming up. Quality is fair with a few good lots. Blueberries: Lighter supplies and moderate demand has this market steady. Chile blueberry growers are getting close to being done for the season. Quality is being reported as good to fair depending on the lot. The main pack size is switching into 11oz with a few 6oz being packed. Look for this market to firm up in the next week. BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is softer. Some suppliers have begun production in Salinas. Pricing is competitive out of Santa Maria and Yuma. There are some suppliers that have better availability than others. Expect pricing to be competitive throughout the week. The overall quality is reported as being good. CARROTS Tim Kelley California carrot supplies are steady. Demand remains good and market is steady. CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady, overall. There are a few suppliers that have an extra large amount of sixteen count sizing and are offering sharp pricing. There have been issues on brown spotting being reported upon arrival so please be aware. The availability is expected to be moderate to good for the entire week. Salinas has begun production in a light way CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is active. Supplies overall are light in Oxnard, Yuma and Santa Maria. The smaller sizes, mainly the 36s have decent supplies. The supplies out of all areas are expected to be light to moderate for the rest of the week. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: The Desert crop is finished for this season. The Ventura and the Central Valley are now the lemon producing areas. Volume is good on all sizes. Quality is good. Oranges: The Navel crop volume is good. Fruit quality and flavor is very good. Fruit is currently

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peaking heavy to the Fancy grade and on 88’s/72’s/113’s, with 56’s and larger a tightening. Limes: Supplies are light with some quality issues showing. Cold temps in the growing regions of Mexico have slowed growth. The market is active continues to firm. CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Mike Cantu Market is very unsettled. We are experiencing from all indications a gap due to bloom drop resulting from the last cold snap a few weeks back. We anticipate better supplies by week’s end. Current market is extreme demand exceeds. Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird Some domestic cucumbers have started in recent days but strong winds and freezing temperatures in south Florida have destroyed many of those crops and what is left is poor quality. Cooler temperatures in Honduras keep the off shore market extremely strong. There is hope that this could ease off by the weekend as the domestic crops begin to recover. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Mike Cantu Market is on an upward tick. Demand exceeds current supplies. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird The eggplant market is gaining strength as supplies out of South Florida begin to dwindle. This market will tighten up continually until the spring deal gets going farther north. GRAPES: Amy Grolnick Shippers continue to be priced based on fruit quality. Quality problems still include splits and soft wet berries at the low end of the pricing on flames. The east and west coast have good availability of product mostly med and med/lg fruit on both red and green grapes. The green market will continue to come off next week with the red market strengthening as several shippers finish with flames and transition to the more expensive Crimson varietal. Globes and blacks have good availability. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. Supplies are good with most suppliers out of the Mexico region. Overall, supplies are expected to be good for

the entire week. There continues to be issues of yellowing, slime and decay being reported upon arrivals. The complaints, however has been much less compared to past weeks. LEAF LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Romaine and romaine hearts are very light in availability. Demand continues to exceed supply. All shippers are watching averages closely. This will continue for the rest of the Yuma deal. The blister and peel continues to exist on the production of this commodity. 8-10 leaves of blister and 2-3 leaves with brown blister is a common characteristic that suppliers are dealing with. Good supplies do exist on red and green leaf. Blister and peel continue to be growing issues that all suppliers are still dealing with. Escalated pricing continues on all on all romaine items. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is extremely active. Shippers have begun the week with open pricing, as contract orders are being taken care of first. Many suppliers continue to pack thirty count cartons. The weights on the thirty counts are averaging 38-42 lbs. There continues to be complaints on mechanical damage, pink ribbing, and epidermal peel. This will be an issue for the rest of the Yuma deal. The desert region continues to be the main area of production for this commodity. Huron is expected to begin production the third week of March. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: Fruit is limited at best. The west coast will have very limited fruit over the next week and are trying to fulfill ad and contract product prior to any market fruit. There is a little more availability out of Florida but extremely limited. Most Guatemalan shippers are between fields with the majority of the fruit coming out of Honduras and very limited. The market is very firm. Honeydew: Offshore and Mexican fruit is limited. Mostly large fruit is available. The west coast, as with the Cantaloupe, is sold out until at the earliest Thursday or Friday loading. East Coast has a little bit of fruit but very limited as well. The market is very firm. ONIONS John Tole The yellow onion market is steady for now. There are still some volume deals out there but

Commodity Updates continued

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Commodity Updates continued

most Idaho/Oregon suppliers are more bullish on yellows now. Demand will be the determining factor and it is steady right now. Jumbo yellows are still the peak size in the northwest although there are a lot of medium and colossal yellows too. Mexican sweet yellows are steady. Northwest Red onions are turning and around and headed back up because of lighter supplies. Mexican reds are steady. Whites are mostly steady in the northwest and the supplies remain short. Mexican whites are also steady. The onion quality has been good in all areas and on all colors. POTATOES John Tole The potato market is steady mostly steady in Idaho. There were some volume deals out there on the bigger Norkotahs counts but those dried up. Several suppliers have volume deals on the bigger Burbank counts though. Idaho continues to peak on 70-count and larger. Most Idaho packers are still running Burbanks while only a few are running Norkotahs. The Washington market is steady on all sizes and they continue to peak on the larger counts. Colorado is steady on 70-count and larger and up slightly on the smaller counts. The russet quality has been good to excellent in all areas. Bakersfield, California is finished packing Reds & Gold’s. Some Bakersfield suppliers are bringing in Florida product until they start packing desert potatoes. Expect new-crop potatoes from the desert on or around April 1

st.

Washington, Wisconsin, and North Dakota continue packing red & gold potatoes and the markets are steady but supplies are light as all three areas are near the end of the season. Florida is packing reds, golds, and whites. They are all heavier to A-size and the market is down slightly on all colors. The colored potato quality has been fairly good to excellent in all areas. SQUASH Western Squash: Mike Cantu Market continues unsettled on both Italian and Yellow S/n signs of increasing supplies ought to start alleviating pressure on the market. Supplies have been interrupted as the last and latest weather disturbances will and have hampered production in some growing areas. Supplies will continue light for at least couple of

weeks. Indications are some areas are experiencing bloom drop gaps but, for the most part production has slowed until weather returns to its seasonal averages. Eastern Squash: Janine Baird As far as squash goes the problem started due to a lack of pollination and with the cold weather has become even worse. This week we are continuing to see drastic shortages that haven’t been seen in years. Unfortunately even if it warms up we will be in the same boat for a few more weeks until new areas begin to start in late March early April. There also could be damage on some of the crops further north that are due to get started in 2-3 weeks but again we won’t know what if any until the end of the week. Mexico which usually kicks in and helps supply the East in these times continues to have little to no product as well. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick Persimmons are finishing up with limited sizes available. Off shore peaches, plums, and nectarines are available with good supplies. Cherries are done for the season. CA Cherries will start around May 1. California Kiwi is finishing up with mostly Italian available now and Chilean coming in over the next few weeks. TOMATOES Aaron Aliotti Western: There is a wide range of color and quality crossing the U.S and Mexico border with volumes continuing to be reduced due to previous weather patterns in the area. A cold temperature bloom drop has caused volumes to be off in Mexico and reduced acreage is causing reduction in supply. Eastern: Cool weather and rain in South Florida is taking a toll on the volume of second pickings in the region, and in general has fewer plants in production this year. Romas, cherries and grapes are tighter this week and demand will continue to increase as March progresses. VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco

The supplies on lettuce are light as processors attempt to buy as many fields as possible to feed the plants. Weekly averages are being watched. The Romaine supplies

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will be light throughout the week, with blister playing a large factor in production. Broccoli supplies will be steady. The cauliflower supplies are ample for all processor’s needs. Escalated pricing continues on all romaine items.

WATERMELON Mike Cantu Market continues extremely unsettled but there

are signs of improving availability. Demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. Jalisco has entered new acreage and some growing areas are experiencing rain related issues; Northern area is scheduled to start within a week or two. Production is off by nearly sixty percent from Jalisco. Until then supplies will be extremely light. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic.