PRO* ACT The Sour ce

AUAI

The Source

September 10, 2012 © 2012 PRO*ACT,

LLC LLC

T H I N G S Y O U

S H O U L D

K N O W :

COMMODITY

ALERT:

Stone fruit is finishing up quickly most shippers will

finish harvest on all fruit this week

Westside Cantaloupe and Honeydew are

gapping.

Washington apple demands are very strong as the early school demand has

started, so stay ahead!

Small size oranges 113’s and 138’s are very, very limited

Strawberry quality is currently just fair. Only order

what you need as product is not holding up like

everyone is use to

Weather: A couple fairly weak high pressure systems out West will bring a slight warming trend throughout Central California this week. The expected slight warm will bring temperatures to near seasonal norms in the low-70s along the coast to mid to upper 80s in inland regions. This pattern will also bring chance of isolated thunderstorms with temperatures, expected in the mid-90s, to the San Joaquin Valley through the week.

Freight: Mike McIntire

Trucks in California continue to be tighter than normal due to the lack of freight headed west. Trucks in the Northwest and Idaho are steady. Crude oil remained steady and is currently at 95.91 per barrel. The national average rose last week to 4.127 per gallon and should trend up again this week when it comes out later today.

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Commodity Updates

APPLES/PEARS John Tole New York is now packing Mac’s, Jonamac’s, and Gala’s and the size profile is mixed. They will start packing Empires and Honeycrisp in two weeks. Washington is still limited on C.A. red delicious and they won’t pack new-crop in volume for another week so stay ahead on them! Most shippers are finished with the early golden varieties and some have started with golden delicious. CA Granny-Smiths are still peaking on higher grade 88’s & 100’s but most shippers are sold out or have very little to offer! Some suppliers will start with early Granny’s next week. . California is still packing Granny-smith’s and they are peaking on 100’s and smaller. Washington Gala inventories are getting larger by the day and there are good numbers of smaller fruit. California Gala’s are steady but supplies are extremely short and most shippers are finished. California has also started packing Fuji & Braeburn apples. California pears include Bartletts, Bosc, and Stark-Crimson pears. The Bartletts are heavy to the middle sizes so you’ll see more deals on 100’s and larger, 110’s and smaller are very short. The Washington Bartlett market is more stable now as they have adjusted to California. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The market on Mexican grass continues to ease up in the marketplace. Supplies continue to get stronger on standard and large sizing. Jumbo packs are much better in availability as well. The pricing on Mexican grass is very comparable to Peruvian product. This has not happened for some time. There continues to be no 28 pound cases being packed by any supplier, only eleven pounders. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexico’s Flora Loca crop this year is producing good volume. The Flora Loca will have lower maturity than the old crop and will take longer to ripen. California volume is good and size curve has evened out with more 60’s and 70’s coming in to the packing house. BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Jaime Contreras Green bell market is on an upward trend. Expect some lighter supplies this coming week. Anticipated moisture and cooler temperatures in some growing areas may slow down some shipping production. Colored Red bell market is

Commodity Quality Market

Apples Excellent Steady

Asparagus Good Lower

Avocado (Mexican) Excellent Lower

Avocado (California) Excellent Lower

Bell Peppers (Western)

Good Steady

Bell Pepper (Eastern) Good Steady

Berries: Strawberries Fair Higher

Berries: Raspberries Good Higher

Berries: Blackberries Fair Higher

Berries: Blueberries Good Higher

Broccoli Good Higher

Carrots Good Steady

Cauliflower Good Higher

Celery Good Higher

Citrus: Lemons Good Steady

Citrus: Oranges Good Steady

Cucumbers (Western) Good Steady

Cucumbers (Eastern) Good Steady

Eggplant Good Steady

Red Grapes Good Higher

Green Onions Fair Higher

Lettuce: Leaf Fair Higher

Lettuce: Iceberg Good Steady

Melons: Cantaloupe Good Higher

Melons: Honeydew Good Higher

Onions Excellent Lower

Pears Good Lower

Potatoes Excellent Lower

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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steady but growers are anticipating slightly lighter production. We expect some moisture and cooler temperatures which will impact harvesting. Demand slightly exceeds market. Gold bells are settling but, they continue demand exceeds supplies. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird Volume will be light at the front part of the week since there was not much picking over the 3 day holiday weekend. However, the market should remain unchanged for the week, as volume will increase and demand will stay steady. BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: We are having an industry wide problem with the quality of strawberries shipping out of Central California (Salinas/Watsonville). The strawberry plants are very weak at this time year due to the fluctuations in weather and the plants being close to the end of their life cycle. Berry size is small to medium, 5 to 10% bruising at shipping point which turns into 10 to 15% bruising on arrival. Most berries are showing full color, and fruit is showing bruising due to the level of maturity. Arrivals are also showing bruising, wet, leaky berries and decay. These kinds of arrivals include even the best of labels. We do not anticipate these arrival conditions to change in the near future. Shippers are being very selective as to where and to whom their fruit is being shipped to because most packs, if not all, will have issues upon arrival. We are in a demand exceed supply situation. Only order what you need due to the short shelf life of the fruit. The next growing area to come into production will be Santa Maria which has started in a light way with limited volumes. Oxnard fall crop will start the end of this month or the start of October. Quality on this fall crop is being reported as good. Market is firm. Raspberries: The market is firming with lighter supplies. Qualities have improved, but are hit and miss on some arrivals. Blackberries: Blackberries are still in a demand exceed supply situation. Quality is fair at best. Supplies keep going backwards each week. Look for this market to stay tight for the next month. Santa Maria has started packing some light numbers of blackberries. Blueberries: Blueberries are starting to come

out of controlled atmosphere. You will start to see pack dates on blueberries extend farther into the past due to this. Quality has started to improve. Market is still firm. The main pack size is 6oz and smaller. Argentina will be the next area to come into play maybe as soon as the end of this month. BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is stronger on bunched product as well as crowns. Expect this market to get stronger throughout the week. Santa Maria and Salinas continue to be the main growing regions for this commodity. There are no major issues to report in terms of quality. Supplies should be moderate to light throughout the week. Demand is stronger. CARROTS Tim Kelley California carrot supplies remain good. Sizing of the carrots are good with steady warm weather. CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Supplies have definitely decreased with all suppliers and this has made the market active. Moderate supplies are available to start the week with most suppliers. The larger sizes have a slightly smaller availability. Supplies are expected to be lighter by the middle of the week. Shippers are no longer offering bulk deals like in past weeks. CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is stronger. All sizing is light to moderate depending on the shipper. The option for Salinas and Santa Maria are the two regions to choose from when loading out of California. Suppliers are reluctant to offer volume deals for the most part at this time. Oxnard continues to have a start date in early November. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: Ventura crop harvest is going at full production. Supplies are good, with good steady demand. Oranges: The Valencia orange harvest remains steady, with sizing peaking on larger sizes – 72’s/88’s, with very little 138’s or 113’s. It is demand exceeds supplies on the 113’s and 138’s, with 88’s starting to get a little tight.

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Limes: Supplies are good on all sizes. Past rains in the growing area is and causing some quality issues. CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Jaime Contreras Market is trending up; continuing very light supplies

on all fruit. Production had been improving but, inclement weather in growing area(s) has hampered production this past week. Cucumbers continue to be extreme demand exceeds. Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird With Michigan temps rising slightly and the rains easing off, this market should settle by mid week. There was little to no volume over the weekend so the front of the week should continue to see an active market. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Jaime Contreras

Market is on an upward trend. Expect lighter supplies on large fruit due to field production sizing down. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird This market should stay at the lower levels for the most part of the week, but watch for quality issues out of Michigan stemming from heavy rains... GRAPES: Amy Grolnick The market on the red grapes is steady to higher in California still with light demand. Quality is excellent. Greens are tightening up a bit as several shippers’ transition out of Thompson and Princess into Autumn King. This week we’re seeing the market on the move up. Pristine have just started in a light way. Black Seedless and Red globe both have good supplies. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is stronger with all suppliers. Supplies have definitely tightened up out of Mexico, and Salinas only has light production. The quality continues to have a few issues with decay upon arrival. Pencil sizing will have the best availability. LEAF LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The leaf market is steady to start the week. Romaine has moderate availability as well as green and red leaf. The bug issue has all but

gone away as reports have been minimal. Romaine hearts continue to have issues of fringe and tip burn. Carton romaine has had the same issues. Multiple shippers have reported this. Green and red leaf is light to moderate in availability. Demand has picked up. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The lettuce market continues to be firm. Suppliers have moderate availability after contracts are filled. There is a sense that this market will be stronger by the middle of the week. Santa Maria continues to have production. Good strong weights are being reported from all the growing areas. Weights are reported to be 42-45 pounds. Pink ribbing and decay issues have been minimal. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: Several shippers are still gapping as the weather has cooled a bit and the product is not popping. The fields they were in finished up earlier than expected and the new fields are still not ready to start harvesting. Supplies should be better by Friday as new fields get going. Quality is excellent. Honeydew: Product has become more limited here as well as several shippers gap moving from one block of fields to the next. With the more limited availability the market is on the move. ONIONS John Tole Idaho/Oregon is steady on yellows while Washington is steady to lower, both will flex for volume though. Colossal and larger yellows are still relatively short in both areas. The yellow demand has been light in all districts. California has one shipper still packing and they have mostly yellows. Colorado is still producing mostly pre-packs, mediums, and small jumbo yellows. Red are steady in all areas but there is a large price-gap between Washington and Idaho/Oregon jumbos. Most packers are still heavy to jumbos and are short on mediums. Whites are steady to in all areas with good supplies available. The quality has been good on colors, in all areas. POTATOES John Tole The potato market is still low with good supplies available in all areas. The Idaho norkotahs are still peaking on 70’s & larger

Commodity Updates continued

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Commodity Updates continued

however there is no shortage of 80’s and smaller. Maturity had been a problem with some Idaho suppliers but the issues are starting to disappear. Washington norkotahs are still heavier to 70’s and larger. Colorado is still peaking on 60’s and larger but the smaller counts are available as well. Russet quality ranged from excellent to average depending on maturity. Stockton, California is steady on A-size but higher on B’s and smaller in all colors. There is some flex on larger orders of A-size. Washington, Wisconsin, and Minnesota continue packing pack new-crop reds & golds and they are all steady and also have better availability in the A-size. The colored potato quality has been good to excellent in all areas. SQUASH Western Squash: Jaime Contreras Market trending up on both Italian and Yellow S/n. Some growers are experiencing gaps. Additional demand from other parts of the country has also pressured markets. Previous inclement weather has also affected quality and production this past week. Yellow squash especially is showing the effects of rainy weather. Eastern Squash: Janine Baird The squash market dropped considerably over the weekend as the warm, dry weather increased yields. Georgia has been working squash for the last several days and that volume is expected to increase considerably this week. The decreased demand on Michigan squash should keep this market down. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick Shippers are finishing up early this season on all fruit. This week will be the last week of pack out for most if they have not already finished. California peaches continue to run very large with extremely limited availability. Nectarines and plums are coming to an abrupt halt as well. All stone fruit that is still available will be very large. California pomegranates have started with good supplies. Persimmons will start at the end of the month.

TOMATOES Jay Martini Western: Finally, the potential of strength in the mature green tomato market in California’s San Joaquin Valley has taken hold. Most shippers are sold out for the week, and are contemplating whether to raise prices for next week. Adding fuel to the fire were sporadic rains north of Merced to the Sierra foothills. Look for the market to strengthen a little each week as we move into October. Eastern: With not enough products out of Tennessee, the Eastern Shore of Virginia/Maryland, and Michigan to supply Eastern repackers and receivers, prices have stayed high and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Qualities have been hit & miss. The fall crop in Quincy, Florida is still at least four weeks away. VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco

The lettuce quality and weights are very favorable. Supplies are adequate for all processors’ needs. The Romaine supplies are better in availability, but fringe burn is an issue processors are dealing with. Broccoli supplies are lighter but no issues are needed to report on. The cauliflower supplies are currently ample to fill all processors needs.

WATERMELON: Jaime Contreras Market is steady to trending up. Continued

demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. Most availability will be in bins on s/less. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic. Arizona has wrapped up and most production is coming from central California with New Mexico having started production.