Market Report – June 16th
Okay so let’s start with the US West Coast, work our way East, and then North to our Local selections!
West Coast:
Ideal growing conditions continue in California. Excellent supply and quality on all row crops.
Red Peppers: Still outstanding out of Coachella.
Yellow Peppers: Steady supply, good quality available.
Lettuces: Great-Excellent quality, colour, and production overall!
Strawberries: We’re seeing an increase in production due to favourable sizing and quality because of the weather we’re seeing on the West Coast. Flavour is good, minimal condition defects are seen at dock level.
Blueberries: Central Mexico production declining as they come off their season, Baja production also. San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in in their peak and quality is fair to good. Oxnard volume is declining as we move north for production.
Blackberries/Raspberries: We’ll be seeing an uptick in production with good quality coming out of Santa Maria, and Northern and Southern California.
Navel Oranges. Peaking into 72ct and larger in the fancy grades seen. We’ll be expecting some tightness in supply on smaller grades and will look to substitute with Valencias if needed. Fruit is great overall.
Limes: Availability continuing to improve. Lemons may be a challenge as we are seeing labour down.
Stone Fruit: California is looking great right now! Peaches are delicious. Cherries will be expected coming out of Washington soon!
East Coast:
Tomatoes: Rounds, Romas, Grapes, Cherry – we’re still seeing an escalated market with limited supply and continued demand.
Eggplant: Great supply coming out of Georgia!
Green Beans: We’re seeing decline in numbers being harvested out of South GA. Supply is up on the west coast, however, Local will be on the horizon soon.
Cucumbers: Market is active with increasing demand however we’re seeing lower supply at the moment coupled with great quality resulting in escalated pricing.
Transportation:
Freight rates continue to rise and we aren’t seeing any relief with regards to transportation as demand continues to climb. The demand for trucks and drivers as more and more are needed for the transport of vaccines and COVID-19 related supplies across the US and Canada which has of course affected freight rates of our perishables. We and our partner distributors in the US continue to work and negotiate the best rates with reliable companies and hope you understand the challenges faced with this aspect in the supply chain.
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Good Buy
PEACHES!!! Coming out of California at the moment, and they are absolutely delicious! Practice your skills in Crumbles and Cobblers and Parfaits or…slice and GRILL THEM!!! Perfect those skills until ONTARIO PEACHES are available.
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LOCAL…We’ve got some new selections below and we can’t wait for the season to build with more!
Fava Beans…Local!
English Peas…Start Shucking!
Radish Breakfast…Elevate!
Radish Cincinnati…Red, like the baseball team!
Turnip Baby Bunch…SO frickin’ cute!
Green Asparagus…Get them while you can!
Zucchini Flowers…Female (with baby zucchini attached), in a basket and beautiful! Male flowers packed in a clamshell will be next!
BROCCOLINI
We’re seeing some challenges with lighter supplies with markets being short for the next 7-10 days. And we expect prices to escalate into next week if demand continues.
CARROTS
Quality is great however Large to Jumbo size carrots are a concern due to supply volume. We’ve seen snack-pack sizes improve dramatically over the past two weeks.
MUSHROOMS
We’re seeing some up and down in supply with respect to Buttons. We’re experiencing a labour shortage coupled with supply issue from multiple farms. Buttons will be the first to be short, and depending on demand and substitutions; it may affect in the next few weeks #1 and/or Select sizing.
GINGER
Ginger is highly volatile at the moment due to inconsistent supply with an ever active market. Supplies are tight and we’ll be continuing to monitor the market as we expect pricing to escalate.