PRO* ACT The Sour ce

AUAI

The Source

April 22, 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:

Small Granny-Smith apples are extremely

short

Seeder is an issue with celery that all

suppliers are dealing with. This is an

industry wide issue.

Weather: Tim Lynch

The high pressure ridge out west will bring warmer and dry conditions to Central California this week. An upper level low will bring in the marine layer with morning fog and low clouds especially in Southern California. Inland regions will reach the mid 80s with 60s to low 70s expected near the coast through the week. Long term forecasts keep this warm pattern into next week.

Freight: Mike McIntire

Trucks in California remain tighter than normal as we

continue to see less and less trucks running into

California. Trucks in the Northwest are steady. Crude oil

remained steady and is 88.35 per barrel. The national

average on diesel fuel has remained steady for the last

few weeks at 3.942 per gallon and should trend steady

again this week when it comes out later today.

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Commodity Updates

APPLES/PEARS John Tole New York is still packing Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Red Rome’s, McIntosh, Wine Saps, Stamens, and Empires. The availability remains fair and most of the fruit is heavy to the larger sizes except in the McIntosh which have ranged in size. The larger New York shippers are still expecting to pack through April. Washington Reds are steady and are still peaking on extra-fancy 88/100’s. The smaller sizes & lower grades are still fairly short. Golden delicious are also steady and continue to peak on extra-fancy 88/100’s. Lower grade Golden availability is fair. Granny-Smiths are steady to higher and are peaking on higher grade 64-80’s. Small size granny-smith remains very short especially in the lower grades. Galas are still peaking on 80-100’s and the Washington extra-fancy grade. The Gala market is steady but strong due to very steady demand. Washington Fuji’s continued to peak on 64-80’s and are producing more of the Washington extra-fancy grade. The Fuji volume is up this year and there are still deals to be had. Pink-Lady’s, Cameo’s, Jonagolds, Braeburns, Rome’s, and the other varietals are still available with most suppliers but the supplies are starting to dwindle as we approach the end of the season. Washington D’Anjou's are still peaking on the larger sizes and the US#1 grade but the availability remains light. A few Bosc pears remain and the remaining fruit is of the US#1 grade and mostly 110’s and larger. There are also a few Red pears left. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is stronger to start the week. The best supplies exist with jumbos. Currently jumbos are eight to nine dollars lower than the standard grade. Mexico supplies continue to have a lot of issues with quality. California production is decent but the increase in demand due to the Mexican decline has created a stronger market. Peruvian grass is available in LA, as well. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexico is holding steady on harvest and supplies coming into the US. California growers are still waiting to gain size to their fruit, but we

Commodity Quality Market

Apples Excellent Steady

Asparagus Good Higher

Avocado (Mexican) Excellent Steady

Avocado (California) Excellent Steady

Bell Peppers (Western)

Good Steady

Bell Pepper (Eastern) Good Steady

Berries: Strawberries Good Higher

Berries: Raspberries Good Steady

Berries: Blackberries Good Steady

Berries: Blueberries Good Steady

Broccoli Good Steady

Carrots Good Steady

Cauliflower Fair Steady

Celery Fair Higher

Citrus: Lemons Good Higher

Citrus: Oranges Good Higher

Cucumbers (Western) Good Steady

Cucumbers (Eastern) Good Steady

Eggplant Good Steady

Grapes, Green Fair Higher

Grapes, Red Good Steady

Green Onions Fair Steady

Lettuce: Leaf Good Steady

Lettuce: Iceberg Fair Steady

Melons: Cantaloupe Good Higher

Melons: Honeydew Good Steady

Onions Good Steady

Pears Good Steady

Potatoes Excellent Steady

Squash (Western) Good Steady

Squash (Eastern) Good Steady

Stone Fruit Good Higher

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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are seeing a better harvest on 48’s coming in. Size is still heavy to 60’s and 70’s. They will continue to increase volume as we move through the month. . BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Mike Cantu Green bell market is very unsettled; market is moving upward on large fruit. Supplies are mostly on choice and smaller fruit. New spring crops are around the corner. Southern California has started in a light way with mostly large fruit available. Open field colored Red bell market is perking up due to some fields sizing down as some of these fields are running their course. This market will continue tightening up as week’s progress. Gold bells market continues unsettled as production is sporadic. Slight demand exceeds. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird The pepper market continues to nudge up as Nogales finishes and there is greater demand put on the east. BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: Demand is good with a firm market. Most shippers have switched their Oxnard fields to the freezer market. The few shippers that are still harvesting out of Oxnard for the fresh market are keeping this fruit on the west coast due to quality. Fruit sizing out of this area is running small. The best quality is currently in Santa Maria followed by Salinas/Watsonville. Sizing out of Santa Maria is running large to medium. Watsonville/Salinas fruit is running on the medium with a few large lots. Mother Day pull starts next week. Raspberries: The main area that raspberries are coming out of currently is Mexico with limited supplies in Oxnard and Salinas. Supplies will still be limited for the next couple of weeks. Quality is being reported as good. Market is steady but firm Blackberries: Demand and supplies are good with a steady market. Quality is being reported as good. Blueberries: Florida growers have building supplies with a slightly weaker market. Quality is being reported as good. California growers have started with limited supplies. Market is steady but will start to weaken over the next week or two as supplies build out of these new areas. Quality is being reported as good.

BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market has remained unchanged from the previous week. Good supplies exist in Salinas and Santa Maria and suppliers are listening to offers. Production has picked up in Salinas, and supplies look to be good throughout the week. The overall quality is reported as being good. CARROTS Tim Kelley California carrot supplies are lighter will yields lower and sizing is small. Demand remains good and market is firm. CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is firm. Light supplies continue to exist on all sizing, twelve counts in particular. This sizing is commanding a higher price. Salinas and Santa Maria are light in availability. Light supplies are expected throughout the week. There continues to be sporadic reports of brown spotting being reported upon arrival. CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is stronger. Seeder is the major issue with this commodity. All suppliers are dealing with this. Oxnard is producing about 90% of all the celery being grown. Educate your customers that nothing, health wise is wrong with the celery. Aesthetically, it is not as nice, but again the product is fine. Salinas has not yet begun production. Large sizing now commands a much higher price than the smaller sizing. Expect pricing to be active throughout the week. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: The Ventura and the Central Valley are now the lemon producing areas. Volume is good on the small sizes of 165’s and 200’s, while the larger sizes are less abundant. We are seeing good demand. Quality is good. Oranges: The Navel crop is starting to run short on small size, 113’s/138’s fruit. Fruit is currently peaking heavy to the Fancy grade and on 88’s/72’s, with 56’s and larger are very tight with heave export demand. Some shippers are starting Valencia in a light way. Limes: Supplies look to be a little better to start the week off. Still some quality issues showing. Demand still is good.

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CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Mike Cantu Market is settling down as weather and production have improved. Market is not freefalling but gradually coming off. Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird The cucumber market seems to have settled with plenty of availability, with the exception of the #1 product. With more domestic product available in Florida and markets dropping out west, we should see this market progress downward through the week. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Mike Cantu Market is on an upward tick. Demand exceeds current supplies. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird The eggplant market is beginning to soften. Look for a downward trend in this market as the week goes on. GRAPES: Amy Grolnick The red grapes still have good availability and look to remain that way until the new vessels arrive. The green grapes are very limited on good quality fruit and the market is steady from last week. The black grape market has strengthened and is firm. Globes are available with good quality. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. Supplies are moderate with many suppliers as production has fallen off in the Mexico region. There continues to be issues of yellowing, slime and decay being reported upon arrivals. The complaints are sporadic. LEAF LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Romaine and romaine hearts will have good availability for the rest of the week. There have been a few reports of fringe burn on the romaine, but overall, the quality is good. Salinas has become the main area of production with most suppliers. Santa Maria also has production on all leaf items. Good supplies do exist on red and green leaf. Pricing is steady. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady to start the week. The gap in pricing has closed compared to last

week. Supplies are finished in Huron. There continues to be complaints on mechanical damage, pink ribbing, and epidermal peel been seen upon arrivals. The quality has been sporadic amongst the different suppliers in the Salinas valley. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: The market is slightly higher this week. Product will become more limited as the offshore season finishes. The week of May 6 we will see limited availability depending on the amount of offshore fruit still available. Most domestic fruit will start around May 10. Honeydew: Both offshore and Mexican dews are available with good supplies this week. Offshore fruit will have more availability of small fruit as they finish up. ONIONS John Tole The yellow market is steady to lower in all areas. The northwest is trying to finish up, Texas has more volume, Vidalia is going, and the California desert is starting. Expect the market to remain weak until the northwest cleans up. So far the transition has been smooth for all colors and we expect that to continue. Reds are lower but remain stronger in all areas due to lighter supplies. The Texas red volume remains limited, the northwest is almost finished, and the California volume is light. Expect reds to stay strong until California’s Imperial Valley hits its volume in approximately two to three weeks. Whites are lower in all areas as supplies are up. The onion quality has been good in all areas and on all colors. POTATOES John Tole Idaho is steady to slightly lower on Burbanks and Norkotahs, but the latter are almost finished for the season. Burbanks are the main variety for all shippers now. Idaho continues to peak on 70-count and larger in both variety’s. Demand is steady. Washington is steady on all sizes and they continue to peak on the larger counts. Colorado is slightly higher on all sizes as we approach the end of the season. The russet quality has been good to excellent in all areas. Bakersfield, California continues to pack new-crop desert red, gold, and white potatoes. California reds are large while the gold’s and whites are small and producing

Commodity Updates continued

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Commodity Updates

Continued

more B-size. They will transition to valley spuds this week so we should a slightly larger size profile. Florida continues to pack all colors but the availability remains light due to strong demand. The markets for all three colors are steady. North Dakota is still packing reds and gold’s but the quality is variable. The new crop quality has been good in Florida & California. SQUASH Western Squash: Mike Cantu Market continues unsettled on both Italian and Yellow S/N. Lighter supplies of yellow s/n as some older fields have played out. Italian squash showing an upward tick as some older fields play out also. Eastern Squash: Janine Baird The market on green and yellow squash remains stable, with plenty of product available from both South Florida and Central Florida. The quality on the product farther south seems too marginal while the newer crops farther north are showing excellent quality. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick Offshore peaches and nectarines are all but done with plums available through mid next month. The California stone fruit season will start with apricots available at the end of the month and peaches and nectarines still set to get going the first week of May. Cherries will start with the brooks varietal at the end of this month as well. TOMATOES Aaron Aliotti Western: Recent heat has caused softening in tomatoes, especially in Romas and has caused a reduction in quality and supplies coming from Mexico. Cherries are also reported fair to poor in quality. Eastern: The Florida market is growing in strength due to limited supply in Florida until May when transitioning to the Palmetto/Ruskin region. Currently, there is a range in quality on rounds between 2

nd and 3

rd pickings. Cherry

and grape tomatoes are also a bit tighter this week expecting relief in May also. VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco

The supplies on lettuce are moderate. There have been a few issues on quality. The Romaine supplies are moderate to good. Most of the leaf is now being harvested in Salinas. Broccoli supplies have increased with some

suppliers. The cauliflower supplies are light and this pattern of production will continue throughout the week.

WATERMELON Mike Cantu Market continues unsettled but availability is

improving. Larger fruit is light due to cool evenings. Demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. Northern area is scheduled to start within a week. Supplies however continue light. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic.