THE SOURCE. Stay informed on how weather and other conditions across the country and the globe affect the quality, availability, and price of you fresh fruits and vegetables.
Broccoli: Quality out of California is still really good with nice green color and decent crown size. ALERT! Brussels Sprouts: Supplies remain limited and quality decreased. The market remains extremely high with no relief in sight until the start of the domestic crop in July.
ALERT! Green Grapes: The Chilean green grape supply is quickly coming to an end. Storage crop is limited in availability and sizes. Quality has been fair at best with many reports of wet and soft berries. Prices have climbed higher this week for the remaining fruit. Mexican production is expected to start in light numbers as early as next week with volume slowly increasing as we move through May.
Red Grapes: Chilean storage crop red grapes are expected to remain steady as we finish the season and transition into Mexican product. Prices have jumped up slightly and should remain fairly consistent for the remainder of the week. Quality has been good with occasional soft berries being reported. Mexican production is expected to start next week with light numbers and increase quickly as we move through May.
ALERT! Strawberries: Demand exceeds supply. The California growing regions received more rain last Friday followed by 30-40 mph winds over the weekend. Quality and supply had not yet recovered from the previous rain event and some quality issues could increase such as pin rot, bronzing, bruising and decay. As Mother's Day pull period kicks in this week and runs all the way through next week, we will have very limited availability. High temperatures are staying fairly mild and low temperatures are dipping down into the 40s so strawberries are not coming on with the expected volumes for this period in Santa Maria, Watsonville or Salinas. Harvest estimates are not showing large volume increases until mid-May (after the Mother's Day pull is over).
Stone Fruit: Domestic stone fruit production has begun. Early varieties of apricots, peaches, and nectarines are beginning to load with multiple shippers. Sizing continues to be on the smaller side as production ramps up. Market prices are firm, but will be declining as volume increases. Quality has been reported as excellent and shippers are anticipating a very strong season. Promotable volume will be available.
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