PRO* ACT The Sour ce

AUAI

The Source

May 28, 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:

Domestic garlic supplies will be light

in availability until approximately July.

Chinese supplies are extremely light.

Twelve week is in effect for all garlic

orders

Potatoes continue with low pack outs

Weather: Tim Lynch

The unseasonably cold low pressure system out west will begin to move out of Central California today as high pressure builds in. This will bring a return of the marine layer in the morning with temperatures gradually on the rise into the weekend. Temperatures in the 70s today will increase to the 90s in the interior regions by Friday with coastal regions hitting the high 70s by the weekend.

Freight: Mike McIntire Trucks in California are extremely tight and will remain tight for the balance of the week. Trucks in the Northwest are steady. Crude oil remains steady at 95.26. The national average on diesel fuel should trend steady again this week. We haven’t seen much change lately in fuel prices but due to the holiday prices will come out later today. Last we were at 3.892 per gallon.

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Commodity Updates

APPLES/PEARS John Tole Washington Red Delicious is steady to higher and the market is starting to slowly climb as the varietals come to an end. Reds are still peaking on extra-fancy 88/100’s. Golden Delicious is also peaking on 88/100’s and the market is also rising due to the lack of varietals. Granny-Smith is steady on the large sizes and higher and limited on anything smaller than an 88. Grannies are still peaking on 64’s-80 and the extra-fancy grade. Galas are steady on most sizes and grades but limited as we approach the end of the season. Fuji’s are available but the demand for them has been tremendous and they are cleaning up fast. Fuji’s are peaking on 88’s and larger and the market is higher. Most other varietals have finished for the season. D’Anjou’s pears are available in Washington but mostly 100’s and larger and the US#1 grade. Several shippers are finished with D’Anjou’s already. Red pears are available but supplies are limited and they are mostly 40-50 size half cartons. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The Asparagus market is steady. Overall, domestic supplies are expected to be available until the end of June with a few suppliers. Peruvian product coming into the East coast has good supplies and cheaper prices if loading in Florida is not an issue. Demand for domestic asparagus is keeping this market firm. Supplies for domestic product are moderate at best. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexico still has fair supplies, but limited on 48’s and 40’s.They will still be the main supplier to the eastern markets. California is still increasing in volume and starting to gain size on their fruit. Strong demand is firming markets on 40’s/48’s/60’s. BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Jaime Contrera Green bell market is very unsettled. Supplies are mostly on choice and smaller fruit. New spring crops are currently shipping from Southern California has started with mostly large fruit available. Open field colored Red bell market is generally steady. We’re at demand exceeds out of Nogales as fields are sizing

Commodity Quality Market

Apples Good Steady

Asparagus Fair Steady

Avocado (Mexican) Good Steady

Avocado (California) Good Steady

Bell Peppers (Western)

Good Steady

Bell Pepper (Eastern) Good Steady

Berries: Strawberries Good Higher

Berries: Raspberries Good Steady

Berries: Blackberries Fair Steady

Berries: Blueberries Good Steady

Broccoli Good Higher

Carrots Good Steady

Cauliflower Good Higher

Celery Fair Lower

Citrus: Lemons Good Higher

Citrus: Oranges Good Steady

Cucumbers (Western) Good Steady

Cucumbers (Eastern) Good Steady

Eggplant Good Steady

Grapes, Green Good Steady

Grapes, Red Good Steady

Green Onions Fair Steady

Lettuce: Leaf Good Steady

Lettuce: Iceberg Good Steady

Melons: Cantaloupe Good Steady

Melons: Honeydew Good Steady

Onions Good Steady

Pears Good Steady

Potatoes Good Higher

Squash (Western) Good Steady

Squash (Eastern) Good Lower

Stone Fruit Good Lower

Tomatoes (Western) Fair Steady

Tomatoes (Eastern) Fair Steady

Watermelon Excellent Steady

Commodities at a glance…

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Commodity Updates continued

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down and approaching lighter supplies the next couple weeks. Southern California has started with light supplies also. Gold bells market continues unsettled as production is sporadic. Demand exceeds. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird Most Georgia shippers are now working pepper but supplies are somewhat limited. The demand remains strong so we should not see too much movement in this market. BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: The strawberry market is firm with good demand the start of this week. The cool weather and the Santa Maria Growers switching 60% of their harvest to the freezer markets has help keep the market firm. Some light rain and heavy mist Monday and Tuesday morning will slow production even more the front part of this week. A warming trend is to start Wednesday into the weekend which should help supplies going into the weekend. Quality is good out of the Salinas/Watsonville areas. Raspberries: The raspberry market is steady with moderate to good supplies. Quality is being reported as good. Blackberries: The blackberry market is still tight with moderate demand. Supplies are winding down quickly out of Mexico with California supplies just starting. It will still be a few weeks before California is up to speed to cover the demand. Market is firm. Quality is fair to good depending on the lot. Blueberries: Supplies are good out West with lighter supplies out East. Demand is moderate. East Coast growers have been having a hard time with supplies and quality due to weather. California growers have good supplies and quality currently. The main pack size is 6oz with larger packs also available. BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is active on bunched product as well as crowns. Shippers are light in supplies to begin the week. Rain has hit the Salinas valley so harvesting will be slow to start off the week. Santa Maria has moderate supplies. Pricing is expected to be active throughout the week.

CARROTS Tim Kelley Supplies are good, but still waiting on size to come to bring more JBO carrots to market. Weather is good, so looks like more size in a few weeks. CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The cauliflower market is active. Pricing will rise throughout the week as supplies are expected to be moderate at best. There is a slight gap in production. With rain in the Salinas valley, harvesting will be on the slow side to start the week. Prices will vary from shipper to shipper as some are better off than others on availability. Santa Maria is light in production as well. CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The celery market is coming off, especially in the large sizing. Production is occurring in Oxnard and Santa Maria. The Salinas Valley celery is not due to start until the second week in June. Michigan celery is not due to start until the second week of July. Small sizing, 36s and smaller are demanding a higher price. This will continue throughout the week. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: Supplies are good on the smaller sizes and less abundant on the larger ones. Seasonal demand is good, keeping market firm. Quality is good. Oranges: Navel’s are finishing for the season. There will be some available through the month, but Valencia oranges are starting to take over the market. Valencia sizing is currently peaking on113’s/88’s/138’s. Limes: Supplies good on the smaller sizes, but still very limited on the larger 110’s/150’s. Size should start to come over the next few weeks. CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Jaime Contrera Market is steady. Demand has increased as some domestic supplies have lightened up. Demand slightly exceeds for Nogales cucumbers. There is a wide range of quality and pricing.

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Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird Georgia now has good volume on cucumbers and Plant City still has decent supplies. Quality has been good in both regions and the market should remain stable. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Jaime Contrera Market is steady and strong some growers have begun to wrap up their season. Demand slightly exceeds current supplies. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird This market finally appears to be softening a bit. This trend should continue through the weekend. GRAPES: Amy Grolnick Good are still offshore red Crimson available with good quality. Shippers are doing deals on large orders to clean up. Offshore greens are done for the season. Mexico is going with red flames and green Perlettes, loading in Nogales. Mexican Sugarones will start next week. The price continues to come off as more fruit becomes available, good quality on both colors. Domestic flames and Sugarones are available for loading in Coachella with excellent quality and good sugars. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The green onion market is steady. Supplies are moderate out of Mexico. Prices are expected to be firm to possibly raising by the end of the week. Domestic green onions are due to start approximately in the month of June. LEAF LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The leaf market is steady as suppliers continue to offer deals on all romaine and mixed leaf. This is a good time to promote all leaf items. In general, the quality has been good, with only occasional tip burn being reported. This market is expected to be very competitive throughout the week with deals being offered on volume type orders with many suppliers. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Supplies continue to be strong and suppliers are offering volume deals. There are a few shippers that are not as strong possibly due to heavy ads being run. There have been a few quality issues with mechanical damage, light

weights, and some slight decay in some lots. This market should be competitive in pricing throughout the week. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: Domestic cantaloupe now the only availability. The market price is all over the board with deals on jumbo 9’s. The fruit is running very large. Honeydew: The offshore honeydew is cleaned up for the season. Mexican dews are crossing in good volume through Nogales while domestic dews are available with better volume. Demand and supplies have leveled out. ONIONS John Tole Yellows are mostly steady in all areas. The availability is a little light since New Mexico and California’s San Joaquin Valley are just getting started while Texas and the California desert are finishing up. Expect better numbers by the weekend though. Reds are lower in California, steady in Texas, and New Mexico is just getting started. Whites are steady in all areas. The quality has been good in Texas and better in California. POTATOES John Tole Count cartons are higher in all areas. This is still due to lower pack-outs in Idaho. Washington and Colorado are following Idaho up. Idaho is still producing more 80-count and smaller while Washington and Colorado are peaking on 70’s and larger. Bakersfield, California continues packing reds, gold’s, and whites. They are into San Joaquin valley product so we should more size now. Florida is nearly done with Reds but still has Gold’s and whites. The Florida market is strong due to demand. Arizona is packing a few Reds and Gold’s but the availability is low due to strong demand there too. The quality in all three areas has been good. SQUASH Western Squash: Jaime Contrera Market continues unsettled on both Italian and Yellow S/N. Lighter supplies of both Italian and yellow s/n as some growers is starting to wrap up for the season.

Commodity Updates continued

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Commodity Updates

Continued

Eastern Squash: Janine Baird With Georgia now into good volume on squash the market is dropping. Shippers out of Central Florida are looking to move their supplies this week. Market should continue to trend downward. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick The California stone fruit season is going with fruit still small, mostly running 50 series and smaller. Apricot volume is increasing with good supplies and good eating quality. Brix will continue to increase over the coming weeks as will volume. June will have good promotable volume. Cherries are going with better availability and very good quality. TOMATOES Aaron Aliotti Western: The market remains elevated on rounds showing increased demand due to cold weather which has caused delays to transition. Romas are steady and range quality. Expect to see prices to come back down when California begins picking in 3 – 4 weeks. Eastern: Light volumes last week continue and supplies remain light coming to market this week. Ruskin is expected to finish next week and delays are expected in Quincy and South Carolina for up to two weeks into June that may cause a gap in rounds coming to market. The combination of weak yields, delays, and potential weather may continue elevated prices into June. Grape volumes have increased and Romas remain tight.

VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Lettuce supplies are expected to be strong throughout the week. There are good supplies of romaine as well. Suppliers are attempting to eliminate most of the outer wrapper leaves on the romaine that tend to show bruising easily. Broccoli and cauliflower availability will be light to moderate throughout the week. There is enough product however to fill all the processors needs.

WATERMELON Jaime Contrera 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.