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AUAi

The Source

July 11, 2012 © 2012 PRO*ACT, LLC

T H I N G S Y O U S H O U L D K N O W :

Westside melons started

Romaine hearts and celery have hit escalated pricing

on contracts.

Weather: The unseasonably cool and moist weather pattern in the Salinas valley will continue this week as the marine layer and onshore flow return with region wide cooling and below seasonal temperatures, especially near the coast. Cool temperatures will continue in the Salinas Valley through Friday as the marine layer coupled with onshore flow will keep temperatures in the 60s along the coast to the 80s to low 90s in the warmer inland regions. Long range forecasts continue this pattern into early next week.

Freight: Mike McIntire Trucks in California became more available as we got past the July 4th peak. The expectation is for the transportation supply to be somewhat stable into next week with adequate supplies and rates to reflect better supplies. The Northwest remains steady. The National Average was up slightly to $3.683 per gallon, but should trend done in the coming week.

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Commodity Updates

APPLES/PEARS John Tole Washington Red delicious is still producing mostly 88 & 100 sizes and the extra-fancy grades. Lower grade fruit is still limited and will continue to climb. Golden delicious are also peaking on 88/100’s and the higher grades. Lower grade Golden’s are also limited and the market is strong. Granny-Smiths are heavy to extra-fancy grades as well and 88/100 sizes. Lower grade grannies are also short. Galas are peaking on 88’s and smaller but are essentially finished for the season. California should start packing new-crop Gala’s sometime around August 1st. Washington Fuji’s are peaking on extra fancy 72/80/88’s and they remain extremely short. D‘Anjou pears are peaking on the US#1 grade and are evenly spread across the size spectrum but supplies are limited as the end of the season approaches. California will start shipping new crop Bartlett Pears between the 17th and 19th of July now. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market has remained steady. Supplies out of Mexico continue to be on the light to moderate side. Peruvian product will be light throughout the week. There continues to be no 28 pound cases being packed by any supplier, only eleven pounders. Jumbo grass continues to be the lightest size for availability. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexican supplies are declining weekly, with decent volume into July. California volume is good; peak size has switched to 48’s and larger, with 60ct and 70ct much lighter in supplies. California fruit has good maturity, flavor and oil content. BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Jaime Contreras Green bell market is settling as growers are transitioning from Coachella to Bakers field and other northern districts. Adequate supplies on all green bells. Colored bell continue unsettled supplies improving as other districts come online. Demand continues to exceed but production is catching up to offset on red bell pepper and Gold bells. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird NC shippers have the majority of the pepper volume this week and many Michigan shippers

Commodity Quality Market

Apples Excellent Higher

Asparagus Fair Steady

Avocado (Mexican) Excellent Steady Avocado (California) Excellent Steady Bell Peppers (Western) Good Steady

Bell Pepper (Eastern) Good Steady Berries: Strawberries Good Steady Berries: Raspberries Good Lower Berries: Blackberries Good Higher Berries: Blueberries Good Steady Broccoli Good Steady Carrots Good Higher 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 Red Grapes Good Lower Green Onions Fair Steady Lettuce: Leaf Fair Higher Lettuce: Iceberg Fair Steady Melons: Cantaloupe Good Steady Melons: Honeydew Good Steady Onions Excellent Higher Pears Good Higher Potatoes Excellent Steady

Squash (Western) Good Steady

Squash (Eastern) Good Steady

Stone Fruit Good Lower Tomatoes (Western) Good Steady Tomatoes (Eastern) Fair Steady Watermelon Good Steady

Commodities at a glance…

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Commodity Updates continued

are starting to work their own pepper. As is the case with the initial harvests, sizing is heavy to the larger sizes with very little off grades available. Market is steady. BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: Very good demand with good supplies is keeping the strawberry markets firm but steady. The Salinas/Watsonville growing areas are in their peak production currently which should last through this month then we should see harvest numbers start to back off. Quality is good with a few fair lots being packed currently. Ripe or over ripe fruit being packed is the main issue in the lots that are fair. These lots are showing up with bruising and light decay. Fruit size is medium running in the 18 count to 22 count range with full color fruit. Strawberries are still be harvested in Salinas/Watsonville and Santa Maria growing areas. Santa Maria has hit and miss quality depending on shipper with size being medium to small. Raspberries: The market is slightly lower with good quality fruit being harvested currently. Supplies continue to improve. Blackberries: The blackberry market is starting to improve as each week moves on but supplies have not caught up with demand. Quality is reported as only fair to good. Blueberries: The California growing areas are done for the season with the Northwest growing area picking up speed. The east coast growing areas have been getting some weather on and off and for the most part are done for the season. The main pack sizes are 6oz and larger. Quality is reported as good. BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. A few shippers came out with stronger pricing, but overall, things are steady for now. Santa Maria and Salinas continue to be the main growing regions for this commodity. Demand is likely to pick up by the end of the week. There are no major issues to report in terms of quality. Supplies are definitely better on bunched product compared to crowns. CARROTS Tim Kelley California carrot supplies remain good. Sizing of the carrots are good with steady warm weather. Good demand is firming the market.

CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is flat. There are plenty of offers for volume orders so don’t be shy to ask. The main sizing continues to be twelve counts. Demand like the previous week has begun light to begin the week. Light brown spotting is being seen sporadically upon arrivals, so please be aware. Most shippers continue to deal with this issue. CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is very active. Bad weather in the Michigan territory as well as other local growing areas has put a hard demand on California product. Demand clearly exceeds supplies and this will be continuing throughout the week. All sizing is light in availability. The option for Salinas and Santa Maria are the two regions to choose from when loading out of California. Escalated pricing on contracts are in effect on all sizes. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: Ventura crop harvest is going at full production. Supplies are good, with good steady summer time demand. Oranges: The Valencia orange harvest remains steady, with sizing peaking on larger sizes – 72’s/88’s. Good demand on small sizes is keeping market firm. Limes: Supplies are good on all sizes. We are beginning to see the crop shift back to peak size of 230/200/175ct. CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Jaime Contreras Market is steady to trending up movement lighter supplies on fancy fruit. Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird Supplies are steady out of Michigan and the quality has been excellent. Georgia is finishing up this week and North Carolina’s volume is hit and miss. The market is a bit stronger this week with the limited supplies out of the south. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Jaime Contreras Market is active but, staying steady. Supplies are steady as transitions to other growing districts take place. Light supplies on large fruit. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird Michigan is working eggplant and the quality

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and volume have been good. Post holiday demand has strengthened this market a bit. GRAPES: Amy Grolnick The market on the red grapes is steady to lower in Nogales and California. Coachella has cleaned up for the most part with limited availability. The market still remains active but demand is very light. Sugarones are in good supply with a steady market in Nogales and California. We will see much better supplies over the next couple of weeks. Black Seedless and Red globe both have good supplies. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. Supplies that are coming out of Mexico with most suppliers are good. 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 continues to gain strength on green leaf and especially on romaine. Supplies are expected to be light on romaine throughout the week. Romaine hearts have hit escalated contract pricing. Fringe burn is being reported on leaf items so please be aware. This is an issue with many suppliers. Supplies out of Canada and other local growing regions have had hot weather that has made for low crop yields. This has created a higher demand for California product. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The lettuce market is firm. Many suppliers are expecting this market to rise steadily throughout the week. Decay, pink ribbing and brown outer leaves continue to be an issue upon arrivals, sporadically. Santa Maria has production also available, with weights similar to Salinas’s lettuce. The weights on palletized lettuce will continue to average 41-44 pounds. With romaine having issues on availability, expect more activity on the lettuce market. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: Arizona domestic fruit all but done for the season. Bakersfield has started but supplies remain limited. Westside product has started and product is peaking to 12’s and

15’s with deals on small fruit. Honeydew: Mexican fruit continues to cross over into Nogales with less volume and good quality. The Westside will have some limited availability of dews with more shippers starting at the end of the week into next week. ONIONS John Tole The yellow market is steady but strong in California and New Mexico. Supplies are more limited than they should be due to rain showers in New Mexico, and the shippers that are packing have mostly small yellows. California is heavier to larger onions and is short on mediums. Jumbo reds are steady to lower in both states and mediums remain short. Whites are steady to lower in both areas. The quality has been good on all colors. POTATOES John Tole The Idaho carton market is flat. Most packers are heavy to the smaller counts and are more limited on 60’s and larger. Washington is steady on all sizes but limited as they are near the end of the season. Many Washington shippers have finished packing old-crop and those that haven’t will this week. They are supposed to pack new-crop the week of July 23rd. The Colorado market is steady to slightly higher with only light supplies. Bakersfield, California continues to pack russets and they are peaking on 80’s and smaller. The California shippers are looking for russet movement. The russet quality has been excellent in all areas. Bakersfield is still packing a few packing red, gold, and white potatoes but they are coming to the end of the season. Expect the first Stockton colored potatoes next week. North Carolina & Virginia have started packing reds, whites, and golds and they are both heavier to A-size. Alabama continues to pack reds and they are mostly A-size as well. SQUASH Western Squash: Jaime Contreras Market steady on both Italian and Yellow S/n both varieties are expected to trend up marketwise as supplies are expected to lighten up. Italian squash is steady and production is steady but demand is starting to outpace

Commodity Updates continued

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Commodity Updates continued

production. Yellow squash has wide range of quality. Yellow squash continues demand exceeds. Windy and hot inclement weather continues to affect yellow squash quality and production. Eastern Squash: Janine Baird Georgia has pulled the plug on squash and Michigan has decent volume and quality. Post holiday demand is picking up and the market is stronger. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick California peaches are now in full swing with good sizing and promotable volume. Nectarines have better availability but plums remain limited with an active market. Washington is going with very good quality and good availability of cherries. Apricots limited as several shippers finish up. TOMATOES Jay Martini Western: This is the week that most distributors across the country have made at least somewhat of a switch out to the central valley of California for their mature green tomatoes. That coupled with a little less volume from the main players around Merced has slightly strengthened the market on all sizes. Time will tell whether that will continue after the final grower/shippers start in the northern San Joaquin valley next week. Eastern: Intense heat & then rain has taken its toll to a certain extent at the tail end of the Charleston, SC deal and the newer districts in the Tennessee Mountains and eastern North Carolina. Quality is fair to good and prices are strengthening. A little product is also being shipped out of the Slocomb, AL area as well. All said, this product is still supplying many distributors east of the Mississippi River because of the cheaper freight rates compared to that out of California. VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco

The lettuce quality continues to have some issues of decay. Supplies are adequate. The Romaine supplies will be extremely light throughout the week. Broccoli supplies are not an issue for processors for now. The cauliflower supplies will strong throughout the week. Occasional brown spotting has been reported on this commodity.

WATERMELON: Jaime Contreras Markets are steady. Continued demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. Nogales season has wrapped up. Most availability will be in bins on s/less. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic. Phoenix is currently shipping but will wrap up within a week or two. Monsoonal weather will also slow down production. Other loading points have same market trends, Yuma, Southern Cal.